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Current Affairs – January 2020

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Current Affairs ─ January 2020

This is a guide to provide you a precise summary and a huge collection of Multiple Choice

Questions (MCQs) covering national and international current affairs for the month

of January 2020.

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Table of Contents

Current Affairs ─ January 2020 .......................................................................................................................... i

Audience........................................................................................................................................................... i

Copyright and Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................. i

Table of Contents............................................................................................................................................. ii

APPOINTMENTS .......................................................................................................................... 1

AWARDS ..................................................................................................................................... 8

BILLS AND ACTS......................................................................................................................... 17

BOOKS & AUTHORS ................................................................................................................... 19

COMMITTEES ............................................................................................................................ 21

DEATHS ..................................................................................................................................... 23

DEFENCE ................................................................................................................................... 27

ECONOMIC ............................................................................................................................... 33

ENVIRONMENT ......................................................................................................................... 42

FINANCE.................................................................................................................................... 46

IMPORTANT DAYS ..................................................................................................................... 52

INTERNATIONAL ........................................................................................................................ 56

MISCELLANEOUS ....................................................................................................................... 70

NATIONAL ................................................................................................................................. 73

PERSONS IN NEWS .................................................................................................................... 89


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PLACES IN NEWS ....................................................................................................................... 91

REGIONAL ................................................................................................................................. 95

REPORTS ................................................................................................................................. 112

RESIGNATIONS & RETIREMENTS ............................................................................................. 118

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................................ 120

SPORTS ................................................................................................................................... 125


1

1. Ravindra Nath Mahto elected as Jharkhand Assembly Speaker Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) legislator

Ravindra Nath Mahto from Nala constituency

was unanimously elected as the new

Assembly Speaker of Jharkhand. He has

administered the oath of the office by pro-

term Speaker Stephen Marandi. The JMM-

Congress-RJD pre-poll alliance stormed to

power in Jharkhand with a win over 47 seats

in the 81-member state assembly.

Mahato was elected for the first time from

the same constituency in 2005 but he lost

the seat in the subsequent elections. He won it back in 2014, following it up with his win

in 2019.

2. Air Marshal Vibhas Pande VSM assumed charge as Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance Air Marshal Vibhas Pande VSM took charge

as Air Officer-in-Charge Maintenance of

Indian Air Force with effect from 01 Jan

2020. He started his career as Engineering

Officer in IAF with fighter aircraft and later

also gained experience in maintenance

operations on transport aircraft and

helicopters.

Some of the key appointments held by him

include command of a premier Base Repair

Depot, Senior Maintenance Staff Officer at

HQ EAC and ACAS Eng (T&H) at Air HQ. Prior to assuming his present appointment, he

was holding the appointment of Director General (Aircraft).

3. Air Marshal MSG Menon VSM assumed charge as Air Officer-in-Charge Administration Air Marshal MSG Menon VSM took charge as

Air Officer-in-Charge Administration of Indian

Air Force with effect from 01 Jan 2020. The

Air Marshal is a Cat ‘AYE’ Air Traffic Controller

and has commanded an operational radar

unit at a major flying station. He was a

member of the first UN Mission to Sudan.

Prior to taking over as Air Officer-in-Charge

Administration, he was the Director General

(Works & Ceremonials) at Air HQ. MSG

Menon VSM has served as the Commandant of the prestigious Air Force Administrative

College, Coimbatore and Principal Director Ops (Air Traffic Services).

Appointments


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4. Prof Suresh Chandra Sharma appointed as chairman of NMC Dr. Suresh Chandra Sharma, Professor and

Head, ENT Head-Neck Surgery, AIIMS, New

Delhi has been appointed chairman of the

National Medical Commission (NMC). Dr

Rakesh Kumar Vats, Secretary General,

Board of Governors, Medical Council of India

has been appointed as Secretary, National

Medical Commission.

The NMC will replace the Medical Council of

India as the apex regulatory authority of

medical education in the country. The NMC will have four boards as per the

recommendations of the Group of Experts headed by Professor Ranjit Roy Chaudhury.

5. H.K. Joshi appointed as CMD of Shipping Corporation of India Harjeet Kaur Joshi has been appointed as the

new Chairperson & Managing Director of the

Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. She joined

SCI as Director (Finance) in Feb 2015. Prior to

assuming charge of the office of Director

(Finance) in SCI, Mrs. Joshi was General

Manager (F&A) in Oil and Natural Gas

Corporation Ltd., Mumbai.

Mrs. H K Joshi is a Fellow Member of the

Institute of Cost Management Accountants of

India. She is also a life member of the

Institute of Public Administration, Delhi.

6. Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar appointed Advisor to J&K Lt Governor IPS officer Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar has been

appointed as an advisor to the Lt Governor of

Jammu-Kashmir. Bhatnagar is a 1983-batch

officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre and recently

retired as the CRPF DG.

With this, the Lieutenant Governor of J&K

Union Territory, Girish Chandra Murmu will

have three Advisors. The other two Advisors

are K K Sharma and Farooq Khan. The role of

the Advisor is to assist the Lieutenant Governor in the effective discharge of his

functions.


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7. A Sakthivel appointed as the new Chairman of AEPC India Dr. A Sakthivel was elected as the Chairman

of the Apparel Export Promotion Council

(AEPC) by the Executive Committee for the

year 2020 to 2021. A Sakthivel was first

elected to the board of Directors of Apparel

Export Promotion Council in the year 1982

thus serving the council for almost four

decades. He is also the first person in the

history of AEPC, who is sworn-in for the fourth

time as Chairman of the AEPC.

A Sakthivel was honored with Civilian Award “PADMA SHRI” in 2009 and with Doctor of

Literature (Honoris Causa) in 2011 by Bharathiyar University.

8. M Nagaraj appointed as Chairman and MD of HUDCO M Nagaraj was appointed as the Chairman

and Managing Director of State-owned

Housing and Urban Development Corporation

(HUDCO). He has varied experience of 28

years in various sectors such as housing,

infrastructure finance, skill development and

micro finance.

Prior to joining HUDCO, Mr. Nagaraj was MD

of PEC limited and National Safai Karamcharis

Finance and Development Programme. He

has also worked as Director in IIFCL Projects

Limited handling the Portfolios of Project Finance, especially Take-out Finance Scheme of

IIFCL.

9. Michael Debabrata Patra appointed as RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra has been appointed

as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of

India (RBI). He will replace Viral V Acharya

who had resigned from the post in June 2019.

Patra has been appointed to the post for a

period of three years. He is likely to retain the

Monetary Policy Department handled by

Acharya, as the Deputy Governor.

The RBI, headed by Governor Shaktikanta

Das, can have a maximum of four Deputy

Governors. N S Vishwanathan, B P Kanungo

and M K Jain are the other Deputy Governors working at the central bank.


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10. Harish Salve appointed Queen's Counsel for courts of England & Wales Advocate Harish Salve has been appointed

theQueen's Counsel for the courts of England

andWales. The title of Queen's Counsel is

usually awarded to lawyers possessing

demonstrated skill and expertise in the

conduct of advocacy. The appointment is done

by the Queen, on the advice of the Lord

Chancellor. He is advised by an independent

Selection Panel which makes

recommendations.

Advocate Salve served as a Solicitor General for India until 2002. He is known for

representing India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav

extradition case.

11. Senior IPS officer AP Maheshwari appointed as Director general of CRPF Senior IPS officer A P Maheshwari was

appointed as Director General of the Central

Reserve Police Force (CRPF), following the

superannuation of its previous DG, Rajeev Rai

Bhatnagar. He has served in the force for

nine years, including as the Inspector General

(operations), and also as its IG in Kashmir.

Prior to his appointment, Maheshwari was

Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the

Union Home Ministry.

CRPF is the world’s largest paramilitary force

with about 3.25 lakh personnel. The CRPF's primary role lies in assisting the State/Union

Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and counter insurgency.

12. Bipul Behari Saha elected by IUPAC as its bureau member Dr. Bipul Behari Saha has been elected as a

bureau member of the International Union of

Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). With

this appointment, he became second Indian

after CNR Rao (in 1979) to be elected for this

position. Currently he is Director – R&D of

L.R. Research Laboratories Pvt Ltd (wholly

owned subsidiary of NACL Industries Limited),

Hyderabad.

Founded 100 years ago, IUPAC is the largest

global organization of Chemistry

professionals. It has the responsibility of naming all new elements and compounds,

declare atomic weights and physical constants, update Periodic table and carry out

research projects.


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13. Lt Col Yuvraj Malik appointed as the Director of the National Book Trust Lt Col Yuvraj Malik was appointed as the

Director of the National Book Trust on

deputation from the Indian Army. He will

replace Sahitya Akademi-awardee writer Rita

Chowdhury. Malik has experience of working

with the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home

Affairs, Raj Bhawan in Jammu & Kashmir,

United Nation Missions in Africa and several

operational areas in administrative and

operational assignments including Jammu and

Kashmir, Sikkim, Punjab and Rajasthan.

National Book Trust is an Indian publishing house, functions under aegis of Ministry of

Human Resource Development, Govt. of India.

14. JP Nadda elected as National President of Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Working President J P Nadda was elected

unopposed as the National President of

Bharatiya Janata Party. Party's election in-

charge of organization, Radha Mohan Singh

gave him the certificate of his election on the

occasion.

Mr. Nadda, who is from Himachal Pradesh, was

appointed as the party's working president in

July 2019. He has long been a member of the

BJP Parliamentary Board, its highest decision-

making body. He was also the Cabinet Minister

in the first tenure of the Narendra Modi

Government.

15. Centre appointed Nripendra Misra as chairman of NMML executive council Former Principal Secretary to the Prime

Minister, Nripendra Misra, has been appointed

Chairperson of the executive council of the

Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML).

Mr Misra is a 1967-batch retired IAS officer.

Dr. A Surya Prakash, Chairperson of the

Prasar Bharati board, will be the council's

Vice-Chairperson. The other eminent persons

on the reconstituted executive council are

Rajya Sabha members Vinay Sahasrabudhhe

and Swapan Dasgupta. Academic Kapil Kapoor

has also been nominated as a member of the committee.


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16. Challa Sreenivasulu Setty appointed Managing Director of SBI The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet

appointed Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as the

Managing Director of the State Bank of

India for a period of three years. Prior to

this appointment, he was serving as the

Deputy Managing Director of the SBI.

Challa has worked in multiple geographies

with specialized exposure in credit and

stressed assets. He has served various

positions in SBI such as VP (syndications)

in SBI, NY branch, DGM in commercial

branch Indore, GM & RH in CAG Mumbai,

CGM CAG and DMD (SARG).

17. New MD and CEOs for Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Canara Bank The government appointed heads of Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and Canara Bank for

three years.

Name Post

Appointed in

Bank

Previous Post

Sanjiv Chadha MD & CEO Bank of Baroda DMD SBI

Atanu Kumar Das MD & CEO Bank of India

ED at Bank of

India

Lingam Venkat

Prabhakar MD & CEO Canara Bank

ED at PNB

18. CEC Sunil Arora assumed Chairmanship of FEMBoSA for 2020 Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora

has assumed Chairmanship of the Forum of the

Election Management Bodies of South Asia

(FEMBoSA) for the year 2020. The Outgoing

Chair of FEMBoSA, KM Nurul Huda who is also

CEC of Bangladesh, handed over the Logo of

FEMBoSA to Mr. Arora at the 10th Annual

Meeting of FEMBoSA held in New Delhi.

FEMBoSA was established at the 3rd Conference

of Heads of Election Management Bodies of

SAARC Countries held at New Delhi in May, 2012. It represents a very large part of the

democratic world.


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19. India appointed Taranjit Singh Sandhu as India’s next Ambassador to USA Senior diplomat Taranjit Singh Sandhu has

been appointed as next Indian Ambassador

to the United States. He will succeed

Ambassador Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Prior

to this appointment, Taranjit Singh Sandhu

was working as High Commissioner of India

to Sri Lanka since January 24, 2017.

Taranjit Singh has served as Deputy Chief of

Mission at the Indian embassy in

Washington, first secretary (political) at

Embassy of India and at India’s Permanent

Mission to the UN in New York.

20. IBA appointed Sunil Mehta its Chief Executive Sunil Mehta was appointed as the Chief

Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Banks'

Association (IBA) for 3 years. He will

replace VG Kannan, who resigned from

office as chief executive of IBA on

December 31, 2019. At present, the

managing committee of IBA includes SBI

chief Rajnish Kumar as Chairman for the

year 2019-20 along with 3 deputy chairmen

and honorary secretary.

Indian Banks' Association is a representative body of management of banking in India

operating in India. It currently represents more than 200 banking and financial

institutions operating in India.


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1. Piyuus Jaiswal honoured with Global Bihar Excellence Awards 2019 Piyuus Jaiswal was honoured with

International Peace Excellence Humanitarian &

International Bihar Excellence Awards 2019.

Rajya Sabha MP and Padma Shri Awardee Dr

CP Thakur and Bihar Women Commission

president Dilmani Devi presented the award to

Piyuus in Patna.

International Bihar Excellence Awards 2019

was given to Piyuus to felicitate his

contribution towards social welfare, women

empowerment and introducing new talent in

the field of arts and culture. He has provided a

platform to many women and new talent.

2. Dr. N Kumar conferred with Harit Ratna Award 2019 Dr. N Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu

Agricultural University, was conferred with

National Award for Agriculture sector namely

“Harit Ratna Award 2019”. This award was

organised by the All India Agricultural

Students Association.

Dr. N Kumar was honored for dissemination

of ₹30-crore entrepreneurship project in agri-

business, for motivating youth to the

agriculture sector in the State and his

contribution to increase the impact of Fertigation, precision farming, ultra high density

planting system for increasing farmers’ income.

3. I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar conferred First Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas Media Samman Union Minister Prakash Javadekar conferred

the First Antarrashtriya Yoga Diwas to 30

media organizations as a unique honour to

media organizations that contributed to the

spread of Yoga for the benefit of society.

The awards were given in the following three

categories:

Eleven Awards were conferred under

the category “Best Media Coverage of

Yoga in Newspapers.

Eight Awards were conferred under the category “Best Media Coverage of Yoga in

Television.

Eleven Awards were conferred under the category “Best Media Coverage of Yoga

in Radio.

Awards


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4. India's Sucheta Satish won Global Child Prodigy Award in Dubai Dubai-based Indian girl, Sucheta Satish, has

won the 'Global Child Prodigy Awards 2020'

for singing in most languages during one

concert and the longest live singing concert

by a child. She can sing in 120 languages.

The 100 Global Child Prodigy Award is

supported by the Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

International Foundation and Oscar winning

music director AR Rahman among others.

The award celebrates the talent of children in

different categories: dancing, music, arts,

writing, acting, modelling, science, innovation, sports.

5. Jasbinder Bilan bagged 2019 Costa Children’s Award India-born author Jasbinder Bilan was honored

with the Costa Children's Book Award, a

coveted UK children's book award for her

debut novel ‘Asha and the Spirit Bird’. “Asha

and the Spirit Bird” was shortlisted among 144

other entries.

The Costa Book Awards are a set of annual

literary awards honoring English-language

books by writers based in Britain and Ireland.

Awardees receive £5,000 under 5 categories

namely novel, first novel, children's book,

poetry and biography.

6. Prof. M S Swaminathan presented with ‘Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu National Award’ Eminent Agricultural Scientist Dr. M S

Swaminathan was presented the

‘MuppavarapuVenkaiah Naidu National Award

for Excellence’ for his distinguished

contribution to the field of agriculture. The

Award instituted by the Muppavarapu

Foundation carries a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs

and a citation.

Mr. Swaminathan is regarded as the “Father

of the Green Revolution in India and the

Doyen of Agricultural Science”. TIME

magazine had described him as one of the 20 most influential Asians of the 20th

century.


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7. Ishwar Sharma won ‘Global Child Prodigy Award’ A 10-year-old British Indian yoga champion

Ishwar Sharma won Global Child Prodigy

Award 2020 for achievements in spiritual

discipline yoga. Yoga champion Ishwar

Sharma belongs to south-eastern England’s

Kent in United Kingdom. Ishwer was honored

with Certificate of Achievement by Nobel

Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and Dr Kiran Bedi,

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry.

Global Child Prodigy Award honors child

prodigies from across 45 countries and 30 different categories such as palaeontology,

biking, choreography, fitness and martial arts.

8. Puri received Swachhata Darpan Awards 2019 Puri district of Odisha received the Swachhata

Darpan Awards 2019 for its initiatives for

plastic waste management at Open

Defecation Free Sustainability Workshop held

in Delhi. Puri has successfully managed the

plastic wastes in the district with its effective

policies by engaging the people of the district

towards single use plastic through awareness

programmes, hence keeping the town's

environment pollution free.

Swachhata Darpan Award 2019 was given by

Indian Bollywood actor Aamir Khan to Puri Municipality Additional Executive Officer Saroj

Kumar Swain.

9. Indian scientist Sakya Singha Sen awarded “Merck Young Scientist Award 2019 Dr. Sakya Singha Sen from CSIR-NCL

received the Merck Young Scientist Award

2019 in Chemical Sciences at Bangalore

instituted by Merck for doing remarkable

research in chemical science. Sen has

expertise in main group chemistry and

involves in the synthesis of compounds with

main group element and their catalytic

application.

Merck Young Scientist Award is given to

honor researchers with less than ten years of

experience for their talent in solving some of the toughest problems in chemical

sciences.


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10. President of India presented 14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards President Ram Nath Kovind presented the

14th Ramnath Goenka Excellence in

Journalism Awards. This year’s recipients of

the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in

Journalism Awards constitute works from the

year 2018. The key winners are:

- Photojournalism: C Suresh Kumar from

The Times of India (Print/Digital)

- Books (Non-Fiction): Gyan Prakash

(Print)

- Business and economic journalism category: Nidhi Verma fom Thomson Reuters

(Print/Digital)

- Hindi category awards: Shadab Ahmad Moizee, TheQuint.com (Broadcast), Diti

Bajpai, Gaon Connection (Print/Digital)

- Investigative journalism category: Poonam Agarwal, TheQuint.com (Broadcast);

Teena Thacker, Mint (Print/Digital)

11. President of India presented Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar President Ram Nath Kovind presented the

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2020

to 49 children. Soumyadeep Jana, Ishaan

Sharma, Pema and Lalkansung received the

award under Bravery category. Darsh Malani,

Manoj Kumar Lohar, Gauri Mishra, Korok

Biswas and Omkar Singh were awarded under

Art & Culture category.

The Bal Shakti Puraskar is conferred to

recognize the special contribution of the

children in the fields of social service,

innovation, bravery, sports, art and culture and scholastic. The award carries a medal, a

certificate, a citation and a cash prize worth Rs 1lakh.

12. Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar 2020 The government announced the winners of

Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan

Puraskar on 23rd January, the birth

anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

For the year 2020, Disaster Mitigation &

Management Centre, Uttarakhand (in the

institution category) and Shri Kumar Munnan

Singh (Individual category) were selected.

In case the winner being an institution, it

shall receive a certificate and a cash prize of

Rs. 51 lakhs. In case of the winner being an individual, winner shall receive a certificate

and a cash prize of Rs. 5 lakhs.


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13. Priya Prakash won Cisco Youth Leadership Award 2019 The founder and CEO of India based

HealthSetGo, Priya Prakash won the Global

Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award

for 2019. HealthSetGo is India’s largest

healthcare organization that supports the

UN’s goals and ensures that every child in

India grows healthy and disease-free. The

organization has impacted more than

200,000 children and parents in India across

more than 77 cities, and it hopes to reach 1

million people by 2023.

The award honors the individuals who have made strides to end extreme poverty and

provides $250,000 prize for achieving the UN Global Goals.

14. 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held at USA The winners of the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced at Los

Angeles, USA. Joaquin Phoenix (actor) and Renee Zellweger (actress) received the award

for best performance in a leading role for movie Joker and Judy respectively.

Category Winner

Drama Series Best Actor

Peter Dinklage (Game of

Thrones)

Best

Actress

Jennifer Aniston (The Morning

Show)

Ensemble The Crown

Comedy

Series Best Actor Tony Shalhoub

Best

Actress Phoebe Waller

Ensemble The Marvelous

Television

Movie Best Actor Sam Rockwell

Best

Actress Michelle Williams

Action Performance by a

Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy

or Drama Series Game of Thrones


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15. Government announced Padma Vibhushan Awards The government has awarded the Padma

Vibhushan for 2020 to seven prominent

personalities. The Padma Vibhushan is the

second-highest civilian award of the Republic

of India, second only to the Bharat Ratna. It

is awarded for exceptional and distinguished

service.

The winners of Padma Vibhushan 2020 are

George Fernandes (Posthumous), Arun

Jaitley (Posthumous), former Prime Minister

of Mauritius Anerood Jugnauth, Mary Kom, Chhannulal Mishra, Sushma Swaraj

(posthumous) and Pejavara Adhokhaja Matha Udupi (Posthumous).

16. Government announced Padma Bhushan Awards The government has awarded the Padma Bhushan for 2020 to 16 prominent

personalities. The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of

India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the

Padma Shri. It is awarded for distinguished service of high order.

The winners of Padma Bhushan 2020 are:

Recipient Field

PV Sindhu Sports

Manohar Parrikar Public Affair

Satya Paul Agarwal Medicine

Ajoy Chakrabarty Art

Manoj Das

Literature &

Education

B. V. Doshi Architecture

Krishnammal

Jagannathan Social work

S. C. Jamir Public affairs

Anil Prakash Joshi Social work

Tsering Landol Medicine

Anand Mahindra Trade & Industry

N. R. Madhava Menon Public Affairs

Jagdish Sheth

Literature &

education

Venu Srinivasan Trade & Industry

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satya_Paul_Agarwal


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17. Government announced Padma Shri Awards The government has awarded the Padma Shri for 2020 to 118 prominent personalities.

The Padma Shri is the fourth-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by

the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. It is awarded for

distinguished service.

Some key winners of the award this year are:

Recipient Field

Zaheer Khan Sports

Karan Johar Art

Ekta Kapoor Art

Jitu Rai Sports

Rani Rampal Sports

Kangana Ranaut Art

Adnan Sami Art

Suresh Wadkar Art

Yogi Aereon Medicine

Jai Prakash Agarwal Trade and Industry

Robert Thurman

Literature and

Education

Prem Watsa Trade and Industry

18. Two Sri Lankan women receive Padma awards The Government has conferred Padma Shri

award to two women from Sri Lanka for their

pioneering contributions in their individual

fields and for strengthening India-Sri Lanka

ties. The awards have been conferred on

Deshabandu Dr. Vajira Chitrasena for her

contribution to dance and Late Prof. Indra

Dassanayake for her contribution to Hindi

literature.

Dr. Vajira Chitrasena has been adorned with

one of Sri Lanka’s highest national awards

Deshabandhu among many other awards

and she heads the Chitrasena-Vajira Dance foundation and. The other Padma Shri

recipient late Professor Indra Dassanayake was a renowned Professor of Hindi at

Kelaniya University.


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19. Two Bangladeshis receive Padma awards Bangladeshi Career Diplomat late Syed

Muazzem Ali and veteran museologist

Enamul Haq have been nominated for the

Padma Awards by the government of India

this year. Syed Muazzem Ali has been

honoured with the Padma Bhushan award

posthumously. He was the High

Commissioner of Bangladesh to India.

Renowned academic and Museologist from

Bangladesh Enamul Haq has been

nominated for the Padma Shri award. Born in 1936, Eanmul Haq has taught at many

universities including Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, and BRAC University.

Haque was the founder director general of the Bangladesh National Museum.

20. Deepika Padukone Honoured with Crystal Award at WEF 2020 Deepika Padukone was honoured with the

Crystal Award 2020 at the 26th annual

Crystal Award ceremony during the World

Economic Forum’s opening session on January

20, 2020. She was honoured for playing a

leading role in raising mental health

awareness and her foundation Live Love

Laugh.

The other winners of the award this year are:

Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates

for his leadership in creating

sustainable communities

China’s Jin Xing for her leadership in shaping inclusive cultural norms

Australian artist Lynette Wallworth for her leadership in creating inclusive,

immersive narratives and multi-media art about forgotten communities

21. President approved Tatrakshak medals to Indian Coast Guard personnel The President has approved Tatrakshak Medals to the following personnel of the Indian

Coast Guard for their act of conspicuous gallantry/meritorious service on the occasion of

Republic Day 2020.

Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry) Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)

Dy Comdt Abhishek Kumar (4233-S) DIG Mukul Garg (0260-P)

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Adh (ME), 04217-P IK Balan, P/Adh (AH), 01608-L

Subhash, P/Nvk (QA), 05655-H


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22. President approved 409 Gallantry awards President Ram Nath Kovind has approved

409 gallantry and other defence decorations

to armed forces personnel and others on the

eve of 71st Republic Day. These awards

include 9 Shaurya Chakras, 28 Param

Vishisht Seva Medals and 4 Uttam Yudh

Seva Medals.

The Shaurya Chakra awardees include

Lieutenant Colonel Jyoti Lama, Major

Konjengbam Bijendra Singh, Naib Subedar

Narender Singh, Naib Subedar Sombir, Naik Naresh Kumar, Sepoy Karmdeooraon,

Challapilla Narasimha Rao, Kamal Kishore and Aman Kumar.

23. 62nd Grammy Awards 2020 held at Los Angeles The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards were announced in Los Angeles. It recognized the

best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year.

Category Winner

Album Of The

Year

When We All Fall Asleep,

Where Do We Go?

Record Of The

Year Bad Guy

Best New Artist Billie Eilish

Song Of The Year Bad Guy

Best Music Video Old Town Road

Best Country

Song Bring My Flowers Now

Best Country

Album While I’m Livin’

Best Rap Song A Lot


17

1. JPC on Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, which

was introduced in Lok Sabha in the winter

session last year, has been referred to a Joint

Parliamentary Committee (JPC) of both the

Houses. The JPC has been constituted under

the chairmanship of New Delhi MP Meenakshi

Lekhi for examination and report.

The Bill seeks to provide for protection of

personal data of individuals, create a

framework for processing such personal data,

and establishes a Data Protection Authority for

the purpose.

2. Andhra Pradesh Assembly passed bill to establish three capitals Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed

a bill proposing three capitals, Legislative,

Executive and Judicial for the state. The

Assembly passed the AP Decentralisation and

Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill in

this regard.

Visakhapatnam is proposed to be the

Executive capital, Amaravati Legislative

capital and Kurnool will be the Judicial capital.

The Bill also provides for dividing the State

into various zones. It seeks to establish zonal planning and development boards.

3. Union Cabinet approved amendments in the National Commission for Homoeopathy Bill Union Cabinet approved official amendments

in the National Commission for Homoeopathy

Bill therefore making changes in

Homoeopathy Central Council (HCC) Act,

1973.

Features of bill are:

-To promote the availability of affordable

healthcare services in all parts of the country

-The broad functions constitution,

regulation-making powers are identical to

those of the Medical Council of India.

-Act provides a solid foundation for the growth of medical education and practice in

Homoeopathy.

-It will not only ensure transparency but also necessary regulatory reforms in the field of

Homoeopathy education.

Bills and Acts


18

4. Centre promulgated Ordinance to amend coal-mining laws Central government announced the

promulgation of the ordinance for amendment

in the Mines and Minerals (Development and

Regulation) (MMDR) Act, 1957 and the Coal

Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015. The

amendments were made to promote FDI and

ease in doing business such as auction of coal

mines.

Features of ordinance are:

- Amendments will allow unexplored coal

blocks for mining through prospecting license-cum-mining lease.

- Allow any India-registered company to invest in the coal mining sector.

- Enable FDI in the coal mining sector by removing the restrictions.

- Enhance ease of doing business.


19

1. Union Home Minister Amit Shah released a book ‘Karmayoddha Granth’ Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah

released a book ‘Karmayoddha Granth’, on

the life of Prime Minister Shri Narendra

Modi, in New Delhi. The book explains

various works by PM Narendra Modi during

his tenure.

As per the book, Narendra Modi gave the

states 10% of more budget which reflects

the fulfillmentof Antyodaya resolution of

Pandit Deendayal. The book informs that

Health facilities are being provided to the

people under Ayushman Yojana which was a

dream project of Narendra Modi.

2. Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi to be conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman Eminent Sindhi writer Vasdev Mohi will be

conferred with 29th Saraswati Samman. He

has been selected for this prestigious literary

award for his short stories collection-

Chequebook. This short stories collection

talks about the agonies and sufferings of

marginalized sections of the society.

Saraswati Samman carries a cash award of

15 lakh rupees, a citation and a plaque. Mr.

Mohi has authored 25 books of poetry,

stories and translations. He has also received Sahitya Akademi Award.

3. Jaipur Literature Festival The Five-day Jaipur literature festival was held

in Jaipur where many literature lovers

participated. About 500 speakers of different

fields participated in the festival, which is

currently in its 13th year.

The festival was witnessed with celebrated

writers, thinkers, journalists, historians, poets,

novelists and musicians where they discussed

and shared their experiences with the

audiences. The Jaipur Literature Festival is

described as the ‘greatest literary show on Earth’.

Books & Authors


20

4. 44th International Kolkata Book Fair held The 44th International Kolkata Book Fair

(IKBF) was held in Kolkata with Russia as

the focal theme country. It is the world’s

largest non-trade book fair and the most

attended book fair in the world. Publishers

and Booksellers Guild officials from around

22 countries from Asia, Europe and Latin

America participated in the fair.

This edition of the fair not only familiarised

Indian readers about the Russian Children

books but also witnessed launch of many contemporary bestselling books translated into

Bengali. The last edition of the fair recorded around 24 lakh visitors and books worth Rs

22 crore were sold.


21

1. High Level Committee approved over Rs. 5,908 crore of additional Central assistance to 7 States The High Level Committee (HLC), chaired by

the Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit

Shah, additional central assistance of Rs.

5908.56 crore to seven States from National

Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) - Rs. 616.63

crore to Assam, Rs. 284.93 crore to Himachal

Pradesh, Rs. 1869.85 crore to Karnataka, Rs.

1749.73 crore to Madhya Pradesh, Rs. 956.93

crore to Maharashtra, Rs. 63.32 to Tripura

and Rs 367.17 crore to Uttar Pradesh for

floods/ landslides/cloudburst during south

west monsoon 2019.

Earlier, the Central Government has released an interim financial assistance of Rs. 3,200

crore to 4 States - Rs 1200 crore to Karnataka, Rs 1000 crore to Madhya Pradesh, Rs

600 crore to Maharashtra and Rs 400 crore to Bihar.

2. Tenure of the Commission constituted under Article 340 extended The Union Cabinet has approved the

extension of the term of the Commission to

examine the issue of Sub-categorization of

Other Backward Classes, by six months that

is up to 31.7.2020. The Commission was

constituted under article 340 of the

Constitution on 2nd October, 2017.

The Commission is headed by Justice (Retd.)

Smt. G. Rohini. The Commission is likely to

make recommendations for benefit of

marginalized communities in the Central List

of OBCs.

Committees


22

3. Central Government notified National Startup Advisory Council The Central Government notified the structure

of the National Startup Advisory Council to

advise the Government on measures needed to

build a strong ecosystem for nurturing

innovation and startups in the country to drive

sustainable economic growth and generate

large scale employment opportunities.

The National Startup Advisory Council will be

chaired by Minster for Commerce & Industry.

The Council will suggest measures to foster a

culture of innovation amongst citizens and students in particular, promote innovation in

all sectors of economy across the country and create an environment of absorption of

innovation in industry.

4. Committee to draft legislation on mediation set up by Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India has set up a

panel to firm up a draft legislation on giving

legal sanctity to disputes settled through

mediation, which would then be sent to the

government as a suggestion from the apex

court. The panel will have responsibility to

recommend a code of conduct for mediators.

Committee will be headed by mediator

Niranjan Bhat. The other members of the

panel included Justice K Kanan, former ASGs

AS Chandok and PS Narsimha, senior advocates Sriram Panchu and JP Singh, and senior

mediators Susheela S, Sadhna Ramchandran, Laila Ollapally, and Anil Xavier.

5. Center sets up 3 high-level steering committees to dispose of enemy properties

Union government constituted 3 high-level steering committees to handle the disposal of

enemy properties present in the country and to raise money from them.

Name of Committee Chairman Purpose

Group of Ministers

Union Home

Minister(HM) Amit Shah

To oversee the disposal of more

than 9,400 enemy properties in

India.

Inter-Ministerial Group

Union Home Secretary -

Ajay Bhalla and

secretary of

DIPAM,TuhinKanta

Pandey For disposal of immovable enemy

properties vested in the

Custodian of Enemy Property for

India under the Enemy Property

Act,1968

Core Group of

Secretaries on Asset

Monetisation

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv

Gauba


23

1. Natyasurya Awardee dramatist Ratna Ojha passed away Eminent Assamese dramatist, litterateur and

social activist Ratna Ojha passed away.

Recipient of the prestigious Natyasurya Award

in 2005 for his contributions to theatre, Ojha

had introduced street plays in Assam in 1971

with his skit Kokaideo to revive the theatre

movement in the state that was fading with

the death of his mentor Phani Sarma. Ojha

had also introduced cartoon theatre in the

Northeast.

Ojha worked as a teacher for a brief period and news editor at the Guwahati centre of

Doordarshan before joining Bongaigaon Refinery as a public relations officer.

2. Former Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi passed away Former Governor of Karnataka Triloki Nath

Chaturvedi passed away at the age of 90

years. He served as of Comptroller and

Auditor General of India from 1984 to 1989.

He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in

1991.

Chaturvedi went on to become Rajya Sabha

MP in the 1990s and served in several

parliamentary committees before holding the

office of Karnataka Governor in 2001. He also

briefly took charge of Kerala governor's

duties.

3. Veteran Odissi Danseuse Minati Mishra passed away Famous Odissi Danseuse Minati Mishra

passed away at the age of 91 years. She was

honored with Padma Shri in 2012. She

received Sangeet Prabhakar title for

Hindustani vocal music and Kalinga Shastriya

Sangeet Parishad Award, while being A-Grade

artist at All India Radio (AIR). Minati acted in

various movies such as Suryamukhi, Jeevan

Sathi, Sadhana, Bhai Bhauja and Arundhati.

Minati worked with first-generation gurus of

Odissi such as Guru Pankaj Charan Das, Guru Deba Prasad Das and Guru Kelucharan

Mohapatra during her tenure at Utkal Sangeet Mohavidyalaya, Bhubaneswar.

Deaths


24

4. Veteran filmmaker Manmohan Mohapatra passed away Renowned Odia filmmaker Manmohan

Mohapatra passed away. He was winner of

eight consecutive national awards and was

known as the ‘Father of New Wave Odia

Cinema’. Some of his best known films were

Nishita Swapna, Majhi Pahacha, Tired

Afternoon, Neeraba Jhada, Seeta Raati, and

Bhinna Samaya, among others.

Mohapatra directed documentaries like Anti-

Memoirs, Voices of Silence and Konrak: The

Sun Temple and hindi movies like “Forbidden Love” and “Bits and Pieces”.

5. Former Indian cricketer Man Mohan Sood passed away Former cricketer Man Mohan Sood passed

away. He played one Test for India and 39

first-class matches with 1 century. He served

as an administrator at the DDCA. He scored

1,214 runs during his career that lasted till

1965-66.

Sood later took up administrative roles in

DDCA, and served as a National Selector. He

made his first class debut against Services in

1957 and played his final Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir in 1964.

6. Former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni passed away Former India all-rounder Bapu Nadkarni

passed away. He was popularly known for his

accuracy and for bowling a record 21

successive maiden overs in a Test match

against England. He played 41 Tests in which

he scored 1414 runs and took 88 wickets with

6/43 as his best bowling figures. He played

191 first-class matches in which he took 500

wickets and scored 8880 runs.

In first-class cricket, Nadkarni was placed at

third position after Tayfield and Manish Majithia of Madhya Pradesh, with record of

playing 131 dot balls or 21 maiden overs.


25

7. World’s shortest man Khagendra Thapa Magar passed away World’s shortest man Khagendra Thapa

Magar passed away. Thapa, who could walk,

as verified by Guinness World Records, was

67.08 cm (2 ft 2.41 in) tall. He made his first

appearance in the GWR 2011 book, alongside

Jyoti Amge, the shortest teenager (female)

living. Thapa was born in the Baglung district

of Nepal.

Khagendra Thapa was appointed as a

Nepalese Goodwill Ambassador for Tourism in

2011. In 2018, Guinness World Records made a documentary on his life and about his

family’s shop, leisure activities.

8. NBA legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash National Basketball Association (NBA) legend

Kobe Bryant died at the age of 41 years in a

helicopter crash in the city of Calabasas,

California. Nine people on board along with his

13-year-old daughter also died in the tragic

incident.

Bryant played his entire 20-year career with

the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired in April

2016. He was twice the NBA scoring champion

and a two-time Olympic champion.

9. Veteran artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal passed away Famous artist and sculptor Sher Singh Kukkal

passed away at the age of 86 years. He was

known for his drawing, painting, sculpture,

printing and photography. He worked as art

teacher at the Sainik School Satara and as a

freelance artist.

Sher Singh was honored with senior fellowship

in visual art photography by Union Ministry of

Culture in 2008-09, gold medal in painting

from Queens College, Lucknow and the Rajiv

Gandhi Foundation Award. He won various national and international awards.


26

10. Assamese linguist Golok Chandra Goswami passed away Prominent linguist and renowned litterateur of

Assam Prof. Golok Chandra Goswami, passed

away. Some of his popular works were

'Structure of Assamese', 'Assamese: Its

Formation and Development', 'Dhvani

Bigyanor Bhumika', 'Asomiya Bornoprakash'

and 'Asomiya Akhor Jotoni'.

Prof. Golok Chandra Goswami received

awards like Asam Sahitya Sabha's

'Sahityacharya' title, 'Bhashacharya' title by

Asom Bhasha Bikash Samiti and 'Anundoram

Borooah Award' by the Anundoram Barooah Institute of Language, Art and Culture.


27

1. General Bipin Rawat proposed creation of Air Defence Command Chief of the Defence Staff, CDS General Bipin

Rawat directed various branch heads to come

up with recommendations for inter-service

synergy in a time bound manner and prepare

a proposal to create Air Defence Command.

General Rawat directed that all three services

and Coast Guard must be consulted and their

views obtained in a time bound manner. The

Chief of the Defence Staff stressed that all

must worktowards accomplishing desired

results and coming up with healthy views and

ideas.

2. Indian Army to sign MoU with Russia on AK-203 assault rifles The Indian Army is to sign a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with Russia for the

procurement of over 7.5 lakh AK-203 assault

rifles. While 1 lakh rifles will come directly

from Russia, 6.5 lakh rifles will be

manufactured by India-Russia joint venture

(JV).

The Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited

(IRRPL) at Amethi district’s Korwa town in

Uttar Pradesh will manufacture the rifles. The

factory is a joint-venture of the Ordnance

Factory Board(OFB) of India and Rosoboron Exports and Kalashnikov of Russia. Major

General Sanjeev Senger is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IRRPL.

3. 12th edition of the Indo-Oman bilateral naval exercise, Naseem-Al- Bahr The 12th edition of the Indo-Oman bilateral

naval exercise ‘Naseem-Al-Bahr’ was

organised in Goa. Two ships of the Royal

Navy of Oman (RNO), namely RNOV Al Rasikh

and RNOV Khassab participated in the

exercise along with Indian Navy ships Beas

and Subhadra.

‘Naseem-Al-Bahr’ (which means sea breeze)

is a bilateral naval exercise between the

Indian Navy and the RNO. It is a biennial

naval exercise being conducted since 1993.

Defence


28

4. DRDO's Naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft makes its first successful landing The naval variant of indigenous Light Combat

Aircraft, LCA, made its first successful landing

on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. This

aircraft is developed by the Defence Research

and Development Organisation, DRDO.

With the successful landing of Light Combat

Aircraft, LCA on aircraft carrier INS

Vikramaditya, India has entered into the club

of selected nations having the capability to

design a fighter jet which can land on an

aircraft carrier. LCA is the smallest and lightest Multi-Role Supersonic Fighter Aircraft of

its class. The LCA programme intends to further expand and advance India's indigenous

aerospace capabilities.

5. Indian Navy start 1st ‘Maha-Navy Connect 2020’ An expedition, to promote the maritime

heritage of India and spread awareness about

Coastal Security amongst the coastal

communities in Maharashtra, was launched by

the Indian Navy from the Naval Dockyard,

Mumbai. Western Naval Command flagged off

the tri-dimensional expedition consisting of

yachting, running and cycling teams of 50

naval personnel along three different axes.

The expedition extended from Arnala fort,

Northernmost fort of Maharashtra to Sindhudurg fort, the southernmost fort of

Maharashtra, covering more than 555 km.

6. Visakhapatnam to host MILAN 2020 naval exercise in March The Indian Navy would be hosting MILAN, a

multi-lateral naval exercise in March 2020.

MILAN series of biennial exercises, which

commenced in 1995 and conducted at

Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) till

2019, will be conducted for the first time on

the mainland at the eastern naval command

(ENC). The theme of the exercise for the year

2020 is ‘Synergy Across the Seas’.

Milan 2020 is aimed to enhance professional

interaction between foreign-friendly navies and learn from each other's strengths and

best practices in the maritime domain.


29

7. India’s 1st indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant to be commissioned by 2021 India's 1st indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant

is likely to be commissioned by early 2021. It

is currently being completed at Limited (CSL)

in Kochi and is currently under phase three

which involves setting to work of machinery

and other equipment.

The third phase of construction will go on till

acceptance of harbor, aviation trials and sea

trials. Vikrant will be fully operational by 2022

and it will have a fleet of MiG-29K aircraft.

8. India deployed INS Vikramaditya in Arabian Sea amid Ex.’Sea Guardians’ India had deployed its aircraft carrier INS

Vikramaditya in the Arabian Sea. The aircraft

carrier was deployed amid the Pakistan-China

naval exercise "Sea Guardians" taking place

in North Arabian Sea.

INS Vikramaditya is a modified Kiev-class

aircraft carrier and the flagship of the Indian

Navy, which entered into service in 2013. It

has been renamed in honour of Vikramaditya,

a legendary emperor of India. Vikramaditya

has been designed as a STOBAR carrier capable of operating both conventional fixed-

wing aircraft and helicopters, with up to 34 aircraft.

9. India and Japan conduct exercise ‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ The Japan Coast Guard Ship ‘Echigo’

participated in the Annual Joint Exercise

‘Sahyog-Kaijin’ with the Indian Coast Guard off

Chennai. It was the 19th such exercise being

conducted between the two Coast Guards since

2000.

The exercise is aimmed at further strengthening

bilateral ties and mutual understanding between

the two Coast Guards. It is set to enhance

interoperability in communication and Search and Rescue procedures and sharing of best

practices.


30

10. Indian Navy to get upgraded Fuel HFHSD – IN 512 The Indian Navy with the support of Indian

Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) has managed to

get new fuel (High Flash High Speed Diesel)

HFHSD – IN 512. The new specification will

not only ensure a better quality fuel but also

result in a reduced carbon footprint.

With this, the country will be able to ensure

interoperability amongst foreign navies during

fleet exercises and provide fuel of quality

better than that mandated to all foreign

navies under bilateral/ multi-national logistics support pacts including LEMOA (Logistics

Exchange Memorandum of Agreement).

11. India and Finland inked MoU to enhance bilateral defence cooperation Ministry of Defence of Finland signed a MoU

with India to boost defence cooperation

between India and Finland. The MoU on co-

operation in the field of Production,

Procurement, Research and Development of

Defence related Equipment and Industrial

cooperation has been inked on the sidelines of

Raisina Dialogue 2020.

Finland had evidenced their interest to

participate in the ‘Make in India’ vision and

formalise an arrangement for Defence

Industrial cooperation through a MoU with India.

12. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off 51st K9 VAJRA-T gun Defence Minister Rajnath Singh flagged off

51st K9 VAJRA-T Gun from Larsen & Toubro

(L&T) Armoured System Complex at Hazira in

Gujarat. The gun weighs 50 tonnes and can

fire 47kg bombs at 43-kilometre distant

targets, having ability to turn around at zero

radius.

Earlier in 2017, L&T had signed ₹4,500-crore

contract from the Ministry of Defence to

supply 100 units of K9 Vajra-T 155 mm/52

calibre tracked self-propelled gun systems to

the Indian Army. It is considered as largest contract awarded to a private company by

the Ministry of Defence.


31

13. Indian Navy signed MoU for offshore Data with GSI Indian Navy has signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with Geological Survey

of India(GSI) for ‘Sharing of seabed

sediments data, products and expertise for

Naval Application inMeteorology and

Oceanography’.

GSI’s Marine and Coastal survey Division

based at Mangaluru has mapped most of

India’s 2.1 Million sq km Exclusive Economic

Zone and has a vast repository of offshore

data. This data collected using GSI’s state-of-

the-art oceanic research vessels Samudra Manthan, Samudra Kaustubh, Samudra

Shaudhikama and Samudra Ratnakar, will now be used by Indian Navy’s rapidly growing

blue water fleet for reliable and accurate oceanographic modeling to support their

expansive maritime operations in the Indian Ocean region.

14. IAF inducts its first squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft equipped with BrahMos missiles The Indian Air Force has inducted its first

squadron of Sukhoi-30 MKI aircraft carrying

the BrahMos missiles. The newly reinstated

222-squadron, also known as the

Tigersharks, would serve as a lethal weapons

platform capable of carrying both aerial and

maritime roles in the Indian Ocean Region.

The newly inducted squadron of Sukhoi-

30MKI is armed with 2.5-ton air-launched

BrahMos Missile. The supersonic cruise

missile is capable of striking targets at a

distance of 300 KM.

15. India successfully test-fired K-4 ballistic missile India has successfully test-fired K-4 ballistic

missile that can be launched from a

submarine. The test ofthe 3,500 kilometre

range nuclear capable missile was conducted

off the Vizag coast in Andhra Pradesh.

With this test, India has moved one more

step towards the induction of this ballistic

missile on the INS Arihant class of nuclear

submarines. The missile was developed by

Defence Research and Development

Organisation (DRDO). The three-metre-tall

missile carries a nuclear warhead of over one tonne. Only the US, Russia and China have

submarine-launched ballistic missiles of 3,500-kilometre range.


32

16. Russia to deliver S-400 air defence systems to India by 2025 Russia has started production of S-400 long-

range surface-to-air missile systems for

India, and all five units will be delivered by

2025. In October 2018, India signed a USD

5 billion deal to buy the air defence missile

systems.

The S-400, an upgraded version of the S-

300, had previously only been available to

the Russian defence forces. It is

manufactured by Almaz-Antey and has been

in service in Russia since 2007.


33

1. GST revenue collection increased by 16% in December 2019 The GST revenues during the month of

December 2019 from domestic transactions,

has shown an impressive growth of 16% over

the revenue during the month of December,

2018. If IGST collected from imports are

considered, the total revenue during

December 2019 has increased by 9% in

comparison to the revenue during December,

2018.

The government has settled ₹ 21,814 crore to

CGST and ₹ 15,366 crore to SGST from IGST

as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State

Governments after regular settlement in the month of December 2019 is ₹ 41,776 crore

for CGST and ₹ 42,158 crore for the SGST.

2. Rabi crops sowing area increased by 36 lakh hectares Rabi crops sowing area increased by around

36 lakh hectares in December 2019. The

total area sown under Rabi crops stands at

over 571 lakh hectares as compared to 536

lakh hectare. The progress in Rabi sowing

has picked up significantly with the

improvement of soil moisture in almost all

Rabi growing states.

The wheat has been sown in over 297 lakh

hectare which is about 27 lakh hectare more

than 2018. The Rice has been sown in

around 14 lakh hectare and Pulses in over 140 lakh hectare.

3. IGST refunds of Rs 1,12,000 crore paid to exporters Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs,

CBIC unveiled that over 1,12,000 crore

rupees have been paid as Integrated Goods

and Services Tax-IGST refunds to exporters

and over 83,000 exporters have been

benefited by these refunds. Refunds of only

3,604 crores are pending with Customs.

CBIC used data analytics to identify risky

exporter entities that take input tax credit

fraudulently and monetize it by paying IGST

and taking refund. Such exporters are being

subject to KYC and verification process before the grant of refund.

Economic


34

4. India likely to surpass Germany to become the fourth-largest economy in 2026 India will overtake Germany to become

fourth-largest economy in the world by the

year 2026. UK-based Centre for Economics

and Business Research (CEBR) titled 'World

Economic League Table 2020' report unveiled

that India is all set to overtake Japan to

become the third-largest economy by 2034.

India has decisively overtaken both France

and the UK to become the world's fifth-largest

economy in 2019.

The World Economic League Table is an

annual calculation by CEBR jointly published by CEBR and Global Construction

Perspectives. The base data for 2019 is taken from the IMF World Economic Outlook.

5. India's Forex reserves touch all time high of 457.468 billion India's foreign exchange reserves increased

by 2.520 billion USD to touch a record high of

457.468 billion USD. Foreign currency assets,

a major part of the overall reserves rose by

2.203 billion USD to 424.936 billion USD. The

reserves had surged by 456 million USD to

end at 454.948 billion USD. Gold reserves

increased by 260 million USD to end at

27.392 billion USD.

India's special drawing rights with the

International Monetary Fund, however dipped by 2 million USD to 1.441 billion USD,

while the country's reserve position increased by 58 million USD to 3.7 billion USD.

6. Indian government signed MoU with Flipkart under DAY-NULM scheme Flipkart, India’s leading e-commerce

marketplace partnered with the Deendayal

Antyodaya Yojana - National Urban

Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) under the

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,

Government of India, to empower skilled yet

underserved sections of society by inducting

them into e-commerce.

Under the MoU, Flipkart will establish the

Flipkart Samarth program in 22 states.

Flipkart and the State missions will work with self help groups (SHGs), including local

artisans, weavers and crafts producers to provide them market access. This partnership

will increase business and trade opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises.


35

7. Finance Minister announced 102 lakh crore rupees project Finance Minister Sitharaman announced

investment of Rs 102 lakh crore of infra

projects for nextfive years spread across 23

ministries, 18 states and union territories. A

task force was formed to identify projects

which identified Rs 102 lakh crore worth of

projects after conducting 70 stakeholder

consultations. India's first National

Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) is also a part of

such project.

A total of 51 lakh crores that is about 5-6 per

cent of the GDP has been spent on infrastructure in the last six years by Centre and

states.

8. NSO estimates India's GDP growth rate for 2019-20 at 5% According to the first advanced estimates of

the national income released by National

Statistical Office (NSO), the Indian economy

is estimated to grow at 5% in 2019-20 as

against 6.8% in the previous fiscal. The

decline has been mainly on account of

deceleration in manufacturing sector growth,

which is expected to come down to 2% in

2019-20 from 6.2% in the year-ago fiscal.

The construction sector growth is estimated

at 3.2% as against 8.7% in 2018-19. The previous low in economic growth was recorded

at 3.1% in 2008-09.

9. First Advance Estimates of National Income, 2019-20 The National Statistical Office (NSO) has

released the First Advance Estimates of

National Income at both Constant (2011-12)

and Current Prices, for the financial year

2019-20.

The highlights are:

The growth in real GDP during 2019-

20 is estimated at 5.0% as compared

to the growth rate of 6.8% in 2018-

19.

GDP at Constant Prices (2011-12) in

the year 2019-20 is likely to attain a level of ₹147.79 lakh crore.

GDP at Current Prices in the year 2019-20 is likely to attain a level of ₹204.42

lakh crore. The Per Capita Net National Income during 2019-20 is estimated to be ₹1,35,050

showing a rise of 6.8%.

The Per Capita Income in real terms (at 2011-12 prices) during 2019-20 is likely to attain a level of ₹96,563.


36

10. Adani Ports to acquire 75% stake in Krishnapatnam Port Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone

(APSEZ) announced acquisition of 75% stake

in Andhra Pradesh-based Krishnapatnam Port

Company for an enterprise value of Rs 13,572

crore. APSEZ is one of the country’s largest

private port operators.

The Krishnapatnam Port is located in southern

Andhra Pradesh and is a multi-cargo facility.

It handled 54 million tonnes (mt) of cargo in

the year ended 31 March 2019. The purchase

will accelerate Adani Ports’ plan to expand its

cargo-handling capacity to 400mt by 2025.

11. Uber partners with Hyundai on electric air taxi Uber has teamed up with Hyundai Motor to

develop electric air taxis. Uber plans to

launch Uber Air by 2023. Hyundai will

produce and deploy the vehicles while Uber

will provide aerial ride-share services.

Global players like Germany's Daimler,

China's Geely Automobile and Japan's Toyota

have all unveiled investments in start-ups

that aim to deploy electric flying cars capable

of vertical takeoff and landing.

12. Industrial output turns positive on account of growth in manufacturing sector The industrial output grew 1.8% in November

2019, turning positive after three months of

contraction, on account of growth in the

manufacturing sector. The growth in the

manufacturing sector was 2.7% as against a

contraction of 0.7% in November 2018.

The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had

grown by 0.2% in November 2018. The IIP

growth during April-November period of the

current fiscal came in at 0.6%, down from 5%

in the same period of 2018-19.


37

13. CCEA approved strategic disinvestment of 49.78% equity shareholding of MMTC The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

approved strategic disinvestment of 49.78%

equity shareholding of Minerals and Metals

Trading Corporation Limited and 10.10% of

National Mineral Development Corporation.

The CCEA gave approval for strategic

disinvestment of 0.68% of MECON and

Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited each. 12%

disinvestment in Industrial Promotion and

Investment Corporation of Odisha Limited

and 20.47% in Odisha Mining Corporation was also approved. The proposed strategic

disinvestment of Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited will unlock resources to be used to

finance the social sector and developmental programmes of the Government benefiting

the public.

14. Deutsche Bank projects India’s economy to reach $7 trillion by 2030 Deutsche Bank projected Indian economy to

achieve $7 trillion by 2030 in its research

report titled as "Imagine 2030".

Key findings of the report are:

- India will grow with the Nominal GDP

growth rate of just over 10% in the next

decade.

- India will become the world’s third largest

economy by 2030.

- Reserve Bank of India’s decision to cut the

key lending rate by 135 basis points in 2019 will revive growth.

- GST will expedite formalisation of the economy and improve the fiscal growth of the

country.

15. Retail inflation at 5-yr high of 7.35% in Dec 2019 Retail inflation rose to about five-and-half

year high of 7.35% in December 2019,

surpassing the RBI's comfort level, mainly

due to rise in prices of vegetables. As per the

data released by National Statistical Office

(NSO), the spike in inflation in the vegetable

segment was 60.5% during the month

compared to December 2018.

The overall retail inflation based on

Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 2.11% in

December 2018 and 5.54% in November 2019.


38

16. WPI surged to 2.59% in December 2019 Wholesale prices based inflation surged to

2.59% in December 2019, as against 0.58%

in November due to increase in prices of food

articles like onion and potato. The annual

inflation, based on the monthly wholesale

price index (WPI), was at 3.46% during

December 2018.

The rate of price rise for food articles rose to

13.12% during December 2019 as against

11% a month earlier, while for non-food

articles it rose to 7.72% from 1.93% in November.

17. India China bilateral trade continues to make steady growth in 2019 India China bilateral trade has continued to

make steady growth in 2019. China-India

bilateral trade stood at 639.52 billion yuan in

2019 which is 1.6% increase year on year.

However, in US dollar terms, it has dipped by

3 billion US dollars as compared to 2018 as

overall global trade was moderated in 2019.

Bilateral trade is projected to be about 92.68

billion dollars in 2019 while it was 95.7 billion

US dollars in 2018, a record high till now.

India’s Trade deficit with China also declined to about USD 56.77 billion in 2019 as

compared to about 58 billion USD in 2018.

18. Infosys inked with GEFCO to strengthen Digital Transformation Infosys partnered with GEFCO, a world leader

in multimodal supply chain solutions and the

European leader in automotive logistics, to

support its digital transformation over the

next five years. Infosys will help transform

the group’s next-generation business

application management services.

Infosys will also leverage its Live Enterprise

Suite to help GEFCO evolve into a ‘Digital

Native’ organization. The end objective is to

help GEFCO create new sustainable sources of

competitive advantage and continuously improve value for its customers.


39

19. India to get USD 1 billion investment from e-commerce company Amazon Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos announced

to invest USD 1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore)

investment in India to help bring small and

medium enterprises online, digitize them and

committed to exporting USD 10 billion worth

of India-made goods by 2025.

The investment is done with an aim to clarify

allegations of deep discounts. Competition

Commission of India launched a probe into

Amazon and Flipkart to look at allegations of

deep discounts and whether the companies discriminate against small sellers.

20. UN lowered India’s growth forecast for FY20 to 5.7% The United Nations lowered India's growth

forecast for FY20 to 5.7% from 7.6% in its

World Economic Situation and Prospects

(WESP) 2020 report.

Key findings are:

- In China, GDP growth is projected to 6% in

2020 and 5.9% in 2021.

- Global growth would slow to 1.8% in FY 20.

- Prolonged weakness in global economic

activity may cause significant setbacks for

sustainable development.

- East Asia remains the world's fastest-growing region.

- In the European Union, GDP growth will rise from 1.4 percent in 2019 to 1.6 percent in

2020.

21. IMF lowered India’s 2019 growth forecast to 4.8% from 6.1% International Monetary Fund slashed its

estimate on India's 2019 economic growth to

4.8% from the 6.1%, due to slowdown in local

demand and stress in the non-bank financial

sector. It has estimated the economy to grow

by 6.5 per cent in 2021-22 which is 0.9

percentage point lower than earlier

projections.

Key findings are:

- World economic growth is estimated at 1.9%

for 2019.

- Global economy to grow by 3.3% in FY 20.

- The downward revision primarily reflects negative surprises to economic activity in a

few emerging market economies, notably India.


40

22. Adani Capital acquired Essel Finance’s MSME lending business Adani Capital, the non-banking financial

company (NBFC) arm of Adani Group acquired

Essel Finance's MSME loan business to focus

on small and micro-entrepreneurs. Through

the acquisition, Adani Capital has secured a

loan book of around Rs 145 crore.

The acquisition is aimed at secured lending

focused on income-generating borrowers.

Adani Capital is a 100 per cent subsidiary of

AdaniFinserve Private Limited, the holding

company of AdaniGroup''s financial services

business.

23. Government approved up to 100% FDI in Bharti Airtel The Department of Telecom (DoT) has

approved raising of foreign direct investment

(FDI) in Bharti Airtel to 100 per cent from 49

per cent allowed previously. The approval will

enable Bharti Airtel company to raise more

funds as per its requirement.

Bharti Airtel has already received nod of the

RBI that allowed foreign investors to hold up

to 74% stake in the company. With this

approval Bharti Airtel can get the infusion of

Rs 4,900 crore investment from Singapore-

based Singtel and other foreign entities.

24. Zomato acquired Uber Eats business in India Zomato acquired the Indian operations of

Uber Eats, the food delivery biz run by Uber,

for around $350 million. Uber Eats is an Uber

Technologies Inc’s food delivery business in

India. The deals provide Uber with the 9.99%

ownership in Zomato after the acquisition.

Zomato will have a 55% share of the food

delivery market.

With this acquisition, the deal marked the

first big consolidation move in the cash-

intensive online food-delivery market.


41

25. Forex reserves rise to 462.16 bn in the week ended Jan 17 The country's foreign exchange reserves rose

943 million US Dollars to touch a life-time

high of 462.16 billion US Dollars in the week

ended January 17. The rise in reserves was

mainly on account of an increase in foreign

currency assets, which rose by 867 million US

Dollars to 428.45 billion US Dollars.

In the reporting week, gold reserves

increased 70 million US Dollars to 28.56

billion US Dollars. The special drawing rights

with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were up by 3 million US Dollars to 1.45

billion US Dollars. The country's reserve position with the IMF rose by 3 million US

Dollars to 3.70 billion US Dollars.

26. India-Brazil set target of USD 15 billion trade by 2022 India and Brazil set a target of USD 15 billion

in bilateral trade by 2022. Both the nations

drew up an ambitious plan to expand

cooperation in oil, gas and minerals sectors.

The decision was taken during talks between

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian

President Jair Messias Bolsonaro.

The volume of bilateral trade in 2018-10 was

USD 8.2 billion which included USD 3.8 billion

worth of Indian exports to Brazil and USD 4.4

million as imports by India.


42

1. India first time ranked among top ten in Climate Change Performance Index India, for the first time, was ranked among

the top ten in the Climate Change

Performance Index, CCPI, which goes further

to prove that all efforts and activities being

currently undertaken by the government are

setting a tone of vast improvements.

Government aimed to increase the share of

non-fossil fuels to 175 GigaWatt by 2022

and further take it to 450 GW.

India is among few countries in the world

where forest cover is consistently increasing. The total forest and tree cover rises to over

24% of the total geographical area of the Country.

2. Total tree, forest cover increased by 5,188 square kilometres in two years The total tree and forest cover increased by

5,188 square kilometres since 2017 and it

has covered around 25% of the geographical

area of the country. Karnataka topped the

forest survey of India report of states

followed by Andhra Pradesh and Kerala in

terms of increase in forest cover.

The aim of the Paris Agreement is to

strengthen the global response to the threat

of climate change by keeping global

temperature rise this century well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

India is among the few countries where the forest and tree covers have increased.

3. Palau became 1st nation to ban ‘reef toxic’ sun cream The Pacific nation of Palau became the first

country to ban "reef-toxic" sunscreens that

contain chemicals which affect the health of

coral reefs and fish and is harmful to corals

and sea life. It is done with an aim to protect

its coral reefs and UNESCO World Heritage

site. A lagoon in Palau's Rock Islands is a

Unesco World Heritage site.

Sunscreen contains 10 ingredients, including

oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are known

environmental pollutants. Toxic sunscreen

chemicals were found throughout Palau's critical habitats, and in the tissues of our most

famous creatures.

Environment


43

4. Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park Census unveiled an increase of 15 saltwater crocodiles Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park Census

survey unveiled following observations-

- The population of the saltwater or estuarine

crocodile increased in the water bodies of

Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park, an

increase of 15 saltwater crocodiles.

- 620 hatchlings, 325 yearlings, 288

juveniles, 185 sub-adults (six to eight feet

long) and 339 adults (more than 8 feet long)

reported in 2020.

- 12 albino crocodiles and four giant

crocodiles more than 20 feet long were sighted in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika.

5. Turtle Rehab Centre in Bihar-First of its kind A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for

freshwater turtles was set up in Bihar's

Bhagalpur forest division. The rehab centre

will provide shelter to 500 turtles at a time

and prevent them from smuggling. The rehab

center will help in proper upkeep of turtles

before being returned to their natural habitat.

Turtles play a significant role in the river by

scavenging dead organic materials and

diseased fish, controlling fish population as

predators and controlling aquatic plants and weeds.

6. Forest Survey of India 2019 report unveiled Forest Survey of India released the 2019

report on Forest Fires. FSI identified fire-

prone forest areas across India.

Key findings are:

- Over 21% of forest cover is fire prone.

- An increase of mangrove cover in India by

54 sq km (1.1%).

- Extremely fire prone areas account for

3.89% of total forest cover.

- Central Indian States recorded a high

number of forest fire alerts.

- One of the major reasons for forest fires in the north-east is slash-and-burn cultivation.


44

7. Centre notified new Wetland Conservation Rules Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate

Change notified the new Wetland

Conservation Rules which prohibit setting up

or expansion of industries and disposal of

construction and demolition waste within the

wetlands. A wetland is a land area that is

saturated with water, either permanently or

seasonally, and it takes on the characteristics

of a distinct ecosystem.

Each state and Union Territory will have to

set up an authority that will define strategies for conservation and wise use of wetlands

within their jurisdiction.

8. Australian Koalas set to become endangered in bush fires The Australian government has decided to

declare koalas as an endangered species

after the bushfire crisis. The bushfire crises

killed many people, burned over 10 million

hectares of land, destroyed over 2,000

homes and pushed many species towards

extinction. It has been reported that over

1.25 billion animals were dead due to

bushfires. Australian government committed

A$50 million for emergency wildlife recovery

program.

Bushfires have destroyed 30% of the koalas habitat. The koala is an arboreal

herbivorous marsupial native to Australia.

9. Wildlife census conducted in Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve The annual wildlife census was conducted in the

Kalakkadu - Mundanthurai tiger sanctuary in

Tamil Nadu. The survey was conducted in the

entire 60,000-hectare area of the sanctuary. The

first part of the survey took count of carnivores

like tiger, jackals etc, while the second phase

involved the enumeration of herbivores like

elephants, deer etc.

More than three hundred personnel, including

forest officials, wildlife experts and college students were involved in the exercise. The

census findings will be included in the annual State of Wild Life Population report of the

Union Ministry of Forest and Environment.


45

10. India achieved complete phase out of one of the most potent ozone depleting chemical India has successfully achieved the complete

phase out of Hydrochlorofluorocarbon

(HCFC)-141 b, which is a chemical used by

foam manufacturing enterprises and one of

the most potent ozone depleting chemical

after Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). (HCFC)-141

b is used mainly as a blowing agent in the

production of rigid polyurethane (PU) foams.

The phase out of HCFC-141b from the country

has twin environmental benefits of assisting

the healing of the stratospheric ozone layer

and towards the climate change mitigation due to transitioning of foam manufacturing

enterprises at this scale under HPMP to low global warming potential alternative

technologies.


46

1. RBI launched app to help visually impaired persons The Reserve Bank launched a mobile

application for aiding visually impaired

persons to identify the denomination of Indian

Banknotes. “Mobile Aided Note Identifier -

MANI” app is capable of identifying the

denominations of Mahatma Gandhi Series and

Mahatma Gandhi (New) series banknote by

checking front or reverse side of the notes,

including half folded notes under broad range

of light conditions.

RBI has clarified that the mobile application

does not authenticate a note as being either genuine or counterfeit.

2. Piyush Goyal inaugurated NSE Knowledge Hub National Stock Exchange (NSE) launched an

AI-powered learning platform NSE Knowledge

Hub. It was inaugurated by Union Minister for

Commerce and Industries Piyush Goyal. The

NSE Knowledge Hub will curate the content for

learners from many internal, external and

premium sources for the personalised learning

experience.

NSE Academy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of

NSE, seeks to collaborate with organisations

in the BFSI industry to enhance skills of their

employees and academic institutions to prepare future-ready talent for the financial

services industry.

3. IBBI amends the IBBI (Liquidation Process) Regulations, 2016 The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of

India (IBBI) notified the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation

Process) (Amendment) Regulations, 2020.

The amendment clarifies that a person, who

is not eligible under the Code to submit a

resolution plan for insolvency resolution of

the corporate debtor, shall not be a party in

any manner to a compromise or arrangement

of the corporate debtor under section 230 of

the Companies Act, 2013.

The amendment also provides that a secured creditor cannot sell or transfer an asset,

which is subject to security interest, to any person, who is not eligible under the Code to

submit a resolution plan for insolvency resolution of the corporate debtor.

Finance


47

4. RBI revised supervisory framework for Urban Co-operative Bank Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revised

supervisory action framework (SAF) for urban

co-operative banks. A UCB may be placed

under supervisory action framework when its

net non-performing assets (NPAs) exceed 6%

of its net advances. As soon as this threshold

is breached, the regulator may initiate

multiple actions, depending on severity of

stress.

All primary UCBs are mandated to submit a

board-approved action plan for reducing its

net NPAs below 6% on quarterly/monthly basis, post-review progress report.

5. Shivalik Mercantile Co-op gets RBI nod to become SFB The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted

“in-principle” approval to Shivalik Mercantile

Co-operative Bank for transition into a small

finance bank (SFB). This is the first licence

issued by the RBI to an urban co-operative

bank (UCB) to become an SFB since the

guidelines came out nearly two years ago.

The UCB will get 18 months to comply with

the requirements under the scheme, which

state that banks with a minimum net worth of

₹50 crore and capital to risk (weighted) assets ratio of 9% and above are eligible to

apply for voluntary transition to SFB.

6. RBI amended KYC norms allowing banks to use V-CIP The RBI amended the KYC norms allowing

banks and other lending institutions regulated

by it to use Video based Customer

Identification Process (V-CIP), a move which

will help them onboard customers remotely.

The V-CIP will make it easier for banks and

other regulated entities to adhere to the RBI's

Know Your Customer (KYC) norms by

leveraging the digital technology.

The Reserve Bank decided to permit video

based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) as a consent based alternate method of

establishing the customer's identity, for customer onboarding with a view to leveraging

the digital channels.


48

7. SBI announced 'residential builder finance with buyer guarantee' scheme State Bank of India announced a 'residential

builder finance with buyer guarantee' (RBBG)

scheme. It aims at giving a push to

residential sales and improve homebuyers'

confidence.

Under this scheme, the SBI will issue a

guarantee for completion of select residential

projects to customers who have availed home

loans from it. The scheme will focus on

affordable housing projects priced up to 2.50

crore rupees in 10 cities. Under RBBG, the guarantee would be given by the bank till the

project gets the occupation certificate (OC).

8. Indian banks to end their operations in Sri Lanka The Central Bank of Sri Lanka has permitted

Indian private sector lenders Axis Bank and

ICICI Bank to close their operations in the

island nation. The licenses issued by Central

Bank of Sri Lanka will be cancelled once the

winding-up operations are complete. The two

banks are no longer to carry their banking

operations, including accepting deposits from

the public in Sri Lanka.

Axis Bank is the fifth-largest bank in India

offering a wide assortment of financial

products. ICICI Bank is the second largest bank in India in terms of assets and market

capitalisation.

9. World Bank’s 2020 Global Economic Prospects report released World Bank’s 2020 Global Economic Prospects

report projected India’s growth rate at 5% for

fiscal year 2020 due to weakness in credit

from Non-Banking Financial Companies

(NBFCs). Global economic growth is forecast

to edge up to 2.5% in 2020 as investment

and trade gradually recover.

Highlights are:

- Growth among advanced economies is

anticipated to slip to 1.4% in 2020 due to

continued softness in manufacturing.

- Growth in emerging market and developing economies is expected to accelerate this

year to 4.1%.

- Euro Area growth is projected to slip to a downwardly revised 1% in 2020.


49

10. SBI’s report ‘Ecowrap’ lowered India’s growth rate to 4.6% for FY 2020 SBI has lowered the growth rate of India to

4.6% in the fiscal year 2020 in its report'

Ecowrap'. The report unveiled that agriculture

and allied activities are expected to grow at

2.8%, while growth in industry estimated to

grow at 2.5% in fiscal year 2020. The service

sector is also estimated to increase to 6.9% in

fiscal year 2020.

Ecowrap report projected that growth rate will

remain below 6% for the two years in a row.

SBI research report 'Ecowrap' highlights the

impact of the slow growth of the economy on jobs creation.

11. RBI released “National Strategy for Financial Inclusion” report Reserve Bank of India under the aegis of

Financial Inclusion Advisory Committee

(FIAC) initiated the process of formulation of

National Strategy for Financial Inclusion

(NSFI) for the period 2019-2024for achieving

sustainable development worldwide. NSFI was

finalised and approved by the Financial

Stability Development Council (FSDC).

The NSFI sets forth the vision and key

objectives of the Financial Inclusion policies in

India to expand the reach and sustain the

efforts through a broad convergence of action involving all the stakeholders in the

financial sector.

12. SCR of Indian Railways signed MoU with SBI The South Central Zone of Indian Railways

signed a Memorandum of Understanding with

State Bank of India for Doorstep Banking for

direct pickup of earnings covering all 585

Railway stations over SCR Zone. The direct

pick up of cash dispenses with the movement

of cash earnings through “Cash Safes” by

trains.

Major benefits from the MoU are as follows:

Real time information about the cash

being deposited by different stations

which will help in better supervision

and accountability.

Avoidance of unwanted accumulation

of cash at railway stations.

Smart way of remittance of station earnings.


50

13. RBI raised the Investment limit for FPIs to 30% The RBI raised the investment limit for FPIs

in government & corporate bonds from 20%

to 30% to bring in more foreign funds into

the market. Foreign Portfolio Investors

(FPIs) can invest now up to 30% in central

government securities (including treasury

bills) or state development loans or

corporate bonds.

RBI made amendments to the Directions

governing investment through the Voluntary

Retention Route (VRR). The investment cap

is increased to Rs. 1,50,000 crores from Rs. 75,000 crores. FPIs are also allowed to

invest in Exchange Traded Funds that invest only in debt instruments.

14. Reliance Jio became 1st Telecom to launch UPI Payments Feature Reliance Jio launched UPI payments feature

through its platform after launching the

feature on the MyJio app. With this, Reliance

Jio became the first telecom operator to

facilitate digital UPI payments through its

platform and second among payments banks

to have enabled UPI payments service.

Reliance JIO has integrated the UPI option in

its main app MyJio, which also accommodates

popular apps like JioCinema, JioCloud and

JioTV. A user will get virtual payment address (VPA) with UPI handle @Jio after the

successful sign-up process. Reliance JIO has over 370 million subscribers.

15. ICICI Bank introduced cardless cash withdrawal facility through ATMs ICICI Bank announced the launch of a

‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ facility from its

ATMs. This service enables customers to

withdraw cash from over 15,000 ATMs of the

bank by simply raising a request on ‘iMobile’,

its mobile banking application.

The ‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ service can

be used for self-withdrawal when customers

do not wish to carry the debit card. The daily

transaction limit as well as per transaction

limit is set at Rs. 20,000. The offering of

‘Cardless Cash Withdrawal’ from iMobile enables customers to withdraw cash securely for

everyday purchases, all from the convenience of their mobile phone.


51

16. NPCI launched Blockchain-Based Vajra Platform to Secure Payments The National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI) launched the Vajra Platform to make

payments fast and secure. Vajra is a

blockchain-based payments platform. Vajra

platform has ability to automate clearing and

perform settlement of payments, drastically

reducing the need for manual reconciliation

with the help of distributed ledger technology

(DLT).

Blockchain technology is distributed ledger

that records the provenance of a digital asset. DLT will also help the industry in

minimising operations and financial risks while making transactions economical,

immutable and secure.


52

1. World Braille Day The World Braille Day is observed annually

on January 4 to honor the birth anniversary

of Louis Braille. He is credited with inventing

the Braille language which helps blind people

to read as well as write.

NGOs and various organizations work

together on this day to raise awareness

about the indifference towards blind people

and to help them be equal with the rest of

the people.

2. World Hindi Day observed worldwide World Hindi Day is commemorated every year

with the objective to promote use of Hindi

language abroad. Special functions are being

organized to mark the occasion. The first

world Hindi Conference was organized in

Nagpur to promote the language worldwide.

Since then 10th January is being observed as

World Hindi Day.

World Hindi Day is to promote the language

at the global stage. Since 1975, the World

Hindi Conference has been organised in

different countries like India, Mauritius, United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, United

States.

3. 16th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas observed Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was celebrated on 9

January to mark the contribution of overseas

Indian community in the development of

India. It also commemorates the return of

Mahatma Gandhi from South Africa to India

on 9 January 1915.

On the occasion of 16th Pravasi Bhartiya

Divas, External Affairs Minister Dr S

Jaishankar interacted with Indian Diaspora

across the globe through a digital video

conference. Established in 2003 the

celebratory event is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs every year on this day.

Important Days


53

4. 12th January celebrated as National Youth Day January 12 of every year is celebrated as

National Youth Day in schools and colleges

across India. The day marks the birth of

Swami Vivekananda. The students and youth

celebrated it with processions, speeches,

music, youth conventions, seminars,

Yogasanas, presentations, competitions in

essay-writing, recitations and sports. It was

celebrated with the theme 'Channelizing

Youth Power for Nation Building'.

In 1984, the Government of India decided to

celebrate January 12 the birthday of great Swami Vivekananda as the National Youth

Day every year.

5. 14th January celebrated as Armed Forces Veterans Day 14th January 2020 was celebrated as 4th

Armed Forces Veterans Day. Armed Forces

Veterans day was also celebrated at seven

other Command Heaquarters of Army, Navy

and IAF.

Since 2017, Armed Forces Veterans Day is

observed each year on 14th January as a

mark of respect and recognition of the

services rendered by Marshal KM Cariappa

OBE - the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of

the Indian Armed Forces who retired on 14 Jan 53. Commemoration of Armed Forces

Veterans Day acknowledges and honours the selfless devotion and sacrifice of our

veterans in the service of the nation.

6. 15 January celebrated as Indian Army Day January 15 of every year is celebrated as the

‘Indian Army Day.’ It was the date (15

January 1949) on which Field Marshal

Kodandera M Cariappa (then a Lieutenant

General) took over as the first Commander-

in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir

Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-

in-Chief of India.

In 1942, K M Cariappa became the first Indian

Army Officer to command a unit. In addition

to this, Army Day marks a day to salute the

valiant soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect the country.


54

7. IMD celebrated its 145th foundation Day on 15 January The India Meteorological Department (IMD)

celebrated its 145th Foundation Day on 15th

January. With a humble beginning in 1875,

the IMD has marched forward with various

milestones and paradigms to serve the

society.

WMO recognized 5 observatories of IMD -

Chennai (Nungambakkam), Mumbai (Colaba),

Panjim, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram as a

long-term observing station for more than

100 years. IMD launched its new website:

www.mausam.imd.gov.in for general public

and Mobile App ‘MEGHDOOT’ for Agromet

Advisory Services.

8. National Girl Child Day celebrated on January 24 The National Girl Child Day is celebrated in

India anually on January 24. The day aims to

provide maximum support and facilities to the

girls of the country in every respect as well as

to raise awareness about discrimination

against girls.

Women and Child Development Department

also celebrated National Girl Child Week from

January 24 to 30. During the week, many

important programmes like "Beti Bachao-Beti

Padhao" signature campaign, plantation and

name plate drive in the names of daughters, awareness campaign on women's rights

and mass oaths for girl child protection were administered.

9. National Immunization Day The National Immunization Day (NID) was

observed all over India as a part of Pulse Polio

Programme, 2020 on January 19. The

National Immunization Day are one of the

four strategies that are recommended by the

WHO to eradicate polio completely.

According to WHO, the NID has to be

conducted twice a year at a gap of 2 to 4

weeks. GoI organizes Pulse Polio

immunization campaigns on the standards set

by World Health Organization (WHO). The

next round of National Immunization Day is to

be held in March 10.


55

10. International Day of Education The world marked the first-ever International

Day of Education on 24th January 2020. It

was celebrated globally as International Day

of Education with the theme ‘Learning for

people, planet, prosperity and peace’. On the

Day, UNESCO released a new right to

education handbook on education inequalities

showing which population groups are lagging

behind in achieving SDG 4.

A new initiative called “Group of Friends for

Education and Lifelong Learning” was launched in New York, formed by representatives

of Member States to the UN, to advocate for sustained commitment to education in the

2030 Agenda.

11. 71st Republic Day India celebrated its 71st Republic Day on

January 26, 2020. Brazilian President Jair

Bolsonaro was the Chief Guest. This year, for

the first time, the wreath laying ceremony was

held at the newly built National War Memorial

instead of Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Assam's tableau which portrayed the unique

craftsmanship and culture of the state has

been chosen as the best tableau, followed by

Odisha and Uttar Pradesh who were tied for

the second position. The tableaux of National Disaster Relief Force and Jal Shakti Mission

were chosen as the best among the Ministries and Departments.

12. National Voters’ Day celebrated The 10th National Voters’ Day has been celebrated

on 25th January. The theme this year is ‘Electoral

Literacy for Stronger Democracy'. It sets the tone

for year-long activities focusing on voter education

and renewal of citizens’ faith in the electoral

process.

The Day is celebrated since 2011 to mark the

Foundation day of Election Commission of India,

which was established on 25th January 1950. It

was the 61st Foundation Day of the Election Commission.


56

1. Iran named Esmail Qaani as its new Commander Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

named the Deputy Head of the Revolutionary

Guards' foreign operations arm Esmail Qaani

as its new commander replacing Qasem

Soleimani who was killed in a pre-dawn US

strike in Baghdad. Following this incident,

tens of thousands of people took to the

streets of Tehran to protest against American

crimes.

Qaani has served as one of the most

decorated commanders of the Guards during

the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. The orders for the force remain exactly as they were during

the leadership of Soleimani.

2. Nepal’s President launched ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ campaign to promote tourism President of Nepal, Bidya Devi Bhandari,

launched much-awaited Visit Nepal Year 2020

campaign. The ambitious campaign is aimed

to promote tourism in Nepal and attract 2

million tourists duringthe year 2020. The

government has a goal of making tourism one

of the key pillars of Nepali economy.

Visit Nepal 2020 campaign was launched in all

the seven provinces of Nepal. During the

campaign a large number of programmes will

be organized in various parts of Nepal throughout the year.

3. WHO designated 2020 as “Year of Nurse and Midwife” World Health Organization (WHO) designated

the year 2020 as “Year of Nurse and Midwife”

so as to honor 200th birth anniversary of

Florence Nightingale. Florence Nightingale

was an English social reformer and

statistician, and the founder of modern

nursing. Nightingale came to prominence

while serving as a manager and trainer of

nurses during the Crimean War, in which she

organised care for wounded soldiers.

2020 will highlight the challenging conditions

they often face, and advocate for increased investments in the nursing and midwifery

workforce.

International


57

4. Umaro Cissoko Embalo won Guinea-Bissau presidential election Former Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister and ex-

army general Umaro Cissoko Embalo was

elected president with 54% of the votes. He

replaced President Jose Mario Vaz. He

promised to resolve political tensions in the

West African country, which has seen nine

coups or attempted coups since 1974.

Umaro Cissoko Embalo served as the prime

minister of his country between 2016 and

2018. He served in the military and rose to

the rank of Brigadier-General.

5. UAE Cabinet approved issuance of 5-Year multi-entry tourist visa The UAE Cabinet has approved the issuance of a

five-year multi-entry tourist visa for all

nationalities visiting the country. The decision was

made during the Cabinet's first meeting of 2020

in a bid to support the UAE's tourism economy.

The country receives 21 million tourists annually

and their aim is to establish the country as a

major global tourist destination. The cabinet also

made a decision of the introduction of a visa

waiver for Mexican citizens travelling to the UAE.

6. India extends $75 million line of credit for solar parks in Cuba India has extended a line of credit of $75

million (over Rs 500 crore) to Cuba for

financing solar parks. Export-Import Bank of

India (Exim Bank) had signed an agreement

with Banco Exterior De Cuba in July 2019 in

this regards which came into effect from

December 12.

Exim Bank made available the Government of

India supported Line of Credit (LoC) of $75

million to Banco Exterior De Cuba for the

purpose of financing installation of 75 MW Photovoltaic Solar Parks in the Republic of

Cuba.


58

7. Neutral pronoun ‘they’ voted Word of the Decade Neutral pronoun 'they' has been voted word

of the decade by US language experts.

"They" is used in English by a growing

number of non-binary individuals, people who

do not identify as either male or female. They

prefer the plural neutral pronoun to bypass

using the pronouns "he" or "she".

The recognition comes after US dictionary

Merriam-Webster in December named "they"

as word of the year. The American Dialect

Society had previously named "they" word of

the year in 2015.

8. United States officially launched “US Space Force” United States President Donald Trump has

signed the 2020 National Defense

Authorization Act. With the signing of the act,

US has authorised the establishment of US

Space Force. The US Space Force will become

the 6th branch of the armed forces.

Space Force would become the youngest US

military branch, and the first new service

since the establishment of the US Air Force

back in 1947. The launch of the Space Force

will be funded by an initial $40m for its first

year. It will be led by Air Force General Jay

Raymond.

9. Iran fully withdraws from the JCPOA deal Iran has announced its full withdrawal from

the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

(JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran

nuclear deal. The move was made following

the U.S. targeted strike that killed the

country's Quds Force Commander Qassem

Soleimani in Iraq.

With this, Iran is no longer committed to any

limits on the level of uranium enrichment,

stockpile of nuclear fuel and also nuclear

research and development. The United States

walked away from the nuclear deal in 2018.


59

10. British Parliament approved terms of Brexit Britain's Parliament approved the terms of

Brexit, clearing its exit from the European

Union. The House of Commons rushed

through a final day of hearings and ratified

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's divorce deal

with Brussels.

The Brexit Bill was passed by the unelected

House of Lords and the European Parliament.

The Brexit deal covers separation issues such

as EU citizens' rights and Britain's financial

settlement and sets out an 11-month transition period in which to agree a wider

partnership.

11. Haitham bin Tariq Al Said succeeded Sultan Qaboos as ruler of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said succeeded Sultan

Qaboos as ruler of Oman. Haitham bin Tariq

Al Said has served in a range of government

roles, including undersecretary of the

ministry of foreign affairs and the secretary

general for the ministry of foreign affairs, as

well as minister of heritage and culture.

Sultan Qaboos had ruled Oman for almost 50

years. He was widely credited with

modernising the country and in developing its

unique role as a regional mediator.

12. Former PM Zoran Milanovic wins Croatia presidential election Zoran Milanovic, Croatia's center-left former

Pime Minister, won the country's presidential

election ousting center-right Kolinda Grabar-

Kitarovic. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic was the

first female President of Croatia. Milanovic

won 52.7% of votes, while the incumbent

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic could get 47.3% of

the votes.

Milanovic has served as Prime Minister from

2011 to 2015. Croatia took over the six-

month rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan 1. Croatia's president has a

responsibility in foreign policy and security matters but the Prime Minister runs the

country.


60

13. India attended Hormuz Peace Initiative India was a key participant at a special

meeting in Tehran on Hormuz Peace

Initiative, which was organized for stability in

one of the world's busiest and strategically

located shipping lanes amid escalating US-

Iran tensions. The Strait of Hormuz is one of

the world's most strategically important choke

points.

Strait of Hormuz was aimed at enhancing

unity, mutual understanding as well as

peaceful and friendly relations among countries in the region. The Strait of Hormuz lies

between Oman and Iran and is known as world’s most important oil artery.

14. A new stain of virus ‘Corona Virus’ found in China Chinese researchers confirmed discovery of a

new strain of coronavirus while finding the

cause of a mysterious pneumonia outbreak.

The new coronavirus's genome was identified

and matched with patient's samples.

Coronavirus is found in large seafood and live

animals for meat. It shows symptoms like

fever, breathing issues and lesions on their

lungs. The coronavirus belongs to family

‘corona’ that includes six other strains known

to infect humans.

15. World Bank predicts Sri Lanka’s economic growth at 3.3% for 2020 The World Bank has forecast Sri Lanka’s

economic growth at 3.3% for 2020 and also

predicted it to remain below 4% in next three

years. In its latest report of World Bank’s

January 2020 Global Economic Prospects,

that for 2021 and 2022, it maintains the

same forecast of 3.7% of economic growth in

Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s new government headed by

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has set a

target to achieve a 6.5% economic growth per annum from 2020 and a GDP growth of

6,500 U.S. dollars per capita.


61

16. World Future Energy Summit held in Abu Dhabi The World Future Energy Summit was held in

Abu Dhabi. The theme for this year's summit

was "Rethinking Global Consumption,

Production, and Investment." World Future

Energy Summit is the Middle East’s largest

future energy and sustainability event.

The four-day annual event was held at Abu

Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The Climate

Innovations Exchange, ‘CLIX’ for short and the

Future Sustainability Summit was also held

alongside the World Future Energy Summit.

17. 18th Dhaka International Film Festival The 18th Dhaka International Film Festival was

inaugurated by the Foreign Minister of

Bangladesh Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen.The festival

kicked off with the screening of the Spanish-

Greek film Window to the Sea, directed by

Miguel Angel Jimenez. During the festival 220

films from 74 countries were screened across

various venues in Dhaka. The theme of the

festival was ‘Better Film, Better Audience and

Better Society’.

The films were selected in eight categories including Asian Competition Section,

Retrospective, Bangladesh Panorama, cinema of the world and Women Filmmakers.

18. Bangladesh hosted Muslim congregation “Bishwa Ijtema” in Dhaka Bangladesh held the first phase of Bishwa

Ijtema, the second largest congregation of

Muslim community after Hajj, in Dhaka. The

second phase of Bishwa Ijtem held between

January 17-19. Thousands of devotees from

Bangladesh and abroad thronged the bank of

river Turag at Tongi near Dhaka to participate

in the congregation. Noted scholars gave

religious sermon to the devotees on this

occasion.

Bishwa Ijtema is an annual event which is

held in a 160-acre field on the bank of the Turag river at Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka

since 1967.


62

19. Treasury Department of USA removed China from “currency manipulator” list The U.S. ended its designation of China as a

currency manipulator from its currency black

list. It had put the country back on a formal

monitoring list reserved for countries that

“merit close attention to their currency

practices and macroeconomic policies.” The

decision was announced ahead of the signing

of a "phase one" trade deal between the

world's two largest economies.

The United States designated China a

currency manipulator in August, on the basis

of China’s intent on continuing to receive the hundreds of billions of dollars from the US

with unfair trade practices and currency manipulation.

20. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen won second term in landslide victory Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen secured a

landslide victory in presidential elections. She

defeatedHan Kuo-yu of the China-friendly

Kuomintang (KMT) party. Tsai got 57% of

votes while Han trailed behind with 38%. Her

victory is the fourth time since 2000 that her

Democratic Progressive Party, which

advocates for Taiwan’s formal independence

has secured the presidency

Tsai is the seventh president of the Republic

of China under the 1947 Constitution and the

second president from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP); part of Taiwan's Pan-

Green Coalition.

21. China's economic growth sinks to lowest level in three decades China registered 6.1% GDP in 2019 mainly

on account of sluggish domestic demand and

the bruising 18-month trade war with the US.

At 6.1%, it is the slowest pace of growth for

the country in almost three decades.

In 2018, China's economy sank to a 28-year

low slowing down to 6.6%, lower than the

6.8% growth registered in 2017. China aims

to double the per capita income of its urban

and rural residents.


63

22. Former President Chandrika Kumaratunga removed from organizer post of Sri Lanka Freedom Party Former President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika

Kumaratunga, has been removed from the

organizer post of Sri Lanka Freedom Party

(SLFP).Mrs Kumaratunga, who served as

President from 1995 to 2005, has remained

active in politics and was appointed as the

SLFP organiser for Attanagalla in October

2017.

SLFP, founded by Chandrika’s father late

Bandarnaike, is headed by former President

Maithripala Sirisena. Sri Lanka People’s party

(SLPP) headed by former President Mahinda Rajapksa, is a breakaway group from SLFP

after Rajapaksa lost the 2015 Presidential elections to Sirisena.

23. Robert Abela elected as Malta’s Prime minister Robert Abela of the Labour party was sworn

in as Malta's 14th Prime Minister, replacing

Joseph Muscat. Muscat has stepped down as

his close associates have come under scrutiny

after the killing of a journalist. Robert

received nearly 58% of votes.

Abela is the son of George Abela, the eighth

president of Malta. He was Member of

Parliament since 2017. He was honored with

National Order of Merit (2020) by right as a

Prime Minister of Malta.

24. India to host SCO Heads of Government meeting India will host the Shanghai Cooperation

Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of

Governmentmeeting later in 2020. The

meeting is held annually at the Prime

Minister's level and it discusses the SCO's

programme and multilateral economic and

trade co-operation.

All eight members and four observer states

and other international dialogue partners will

be invited for the meeting. SCO member

states are Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazhakstan, Uzbekistan and

Tajikistan. Observer states are Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia and Belarus.


64

25. World Economic Forum 2020 The 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) was

held at Davos, Switzerland. The theme of this

year's WEF was "Stakeholders for a Cohesive

and Sustainable World". The theme highlights

an idea perpetrated by WEF Founder Klaus

Schwab that the managers of the companies

have a duty towards customers and the whole

economy, besides the company's

shareholders.

The Indian delegation was led by Union

Minister for Commerce and Industry, Piyush

Goyal. The World Economic Forum is a non-governmental organization, which was

founded in 1971.

26. EU Chiefs signed Brexit deal The President of the European Commission -

Ursula von der Leyen and the European

Council President - Charles Michel, signed

off the Brexit deal. Further, the text was

sent to the European Parliament on 29th of

January for ratification.

The UK is set to enter a transition period in

February, during which the relationship with

Brussels will remain the same while trade

talks are finalised before the tight 31

December deadline.

27. India, Bangladesh sign agreement to upgrade Ashuganj-Akhaura road into 4-lane highway India and Bangladesh signed an agreement to

upgrade the 50.58-kilometre long road

between Ashuganj river port and the Akhaura

land port in Bangladesh into a 4-lane

highway. The deal was signed between the

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of

Bangladesh and an Indian Company Afcons

Infrastructure Limited.

The project is part of the dollar 2 billion

second line of credit extended by India to

Bangladesh in 2016. The project will boost

connectivity between Bangladesh and North-eastern part of India.


65

28. North Korea named former Army officer as new Foreign Minister North Korea has named former Army officer,

Mr Ri Son-gwon, as its Foreign Minister. He

replaced Ri Yong-ho, an English-speaking

career diplomat who took part in nuclear talks

with Washington.

Ri Son-gwon’s appointment comes soon after

Pyongyang declared it was no longer bound

by its self-imposed moratorium on long-range

ballistic missile and nuclear tests, and

Washington missed the North’s end-of-year

deadline for a breakthrough in nuclear talks.

29. ICJ ordered Myanmar to take steps to prevent Rohingya Genocide The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at

Hague ordered the Myanmar government to

take measures to prevent the genocide of

Rohingyas as part of its obligations under the

Genocide Convention.

In a unanimous decision by 17 Judges of the

ICJ, the court observed that there was prima

facie evidence of breaches of the convention

by Myanmar. The ICJ said that the estimated

600,000 Rohingya remaining in Myanmar

were “extremely vulnerable” to violence at

the hands of the military.

30. India delivers 30k doses of MR vaccine to Maldives within 72 hours India supplied 30,000 doses of Measles and

Rubella (MR) vaccine to the Maldives

responding swiftlyto an emergency request

to contain the measles outbreak in the

Maldives. The vaccine supply was quickly

procured and delivered to Maldives Health

Ministry within 72 hours of the request.

Health Minister Abdulla Ameen presented a

certificate of appreciation to Indian

Ambassador Sunjay Sudhir. India’s swift

response emphasized the mutually supportive roles of India’s neighborhood First Policy

and Maldives’ India First Policy.


66

31. North Korea to attend Munich Security Conference for first time North Korea will send a delegation to the

Munich Security Conference for the first time

in the 56-year history of the top diplomatic

gathering. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister

Kim Son Gyong would attend the event in

February 2020.

Founded in 1963, the Munich Security

Conference hosts hundreds of high-ranking

officials and dozens of world leaders each

year to discuss security challenges. The 2020

edition will be held from February 14 to 16.

32. PM Sheikh Hasina launched e-passport facility in Bangladesh Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

launched the e-passport facility for its citizens

in Dhaka. The e-passports will have an

embedded chip in them which will contain the

bio-metric data of the passport holder,

photograph and other information contained

in the passport. It will also include digital

security features in it.

Bangladesh is the first country in South Asia

and 119th country in the wold to provide e-

passport facility. According to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), over

490 million e-Passports are in circulation in the world.

33. Sri Lanka ranked first in Breast Feeding support Policies and Programs According to a new survey conducted by the

World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative (WBTi),

Sri Lanka has been ranked first among 97

countries globally on breastfeeding rate. Sri

Lanka’s rank is based on its performance on

ten indicators of policies and programs.

Sri Lanka has scored 91 out of 100 points and

earned a green color code, which implies best

level of performance. Experts at the

Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India in Delhi developed the WBTi and launched it

worldwide. So far, 120 countries have been involved in WBTi and 97 have completed

assessments.


67

34. India opened its first Mahatma Gandhi convention centre in Niger External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and

President of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou

jointly inaugurated the first convention centre

established in Africa by India to honour the

memory of Mahatma Gandhi. The convention

centre has been designed as a spacious,

modern and eco-friendly facility, including a

2,000 capacity Plenary Hall.

Mr. Jaishankar became the first Indian

Foreign Minister to visit the West African

country. He was on the first leg of his three-day two-nation trip to Niger and Tunisia.

35. Iranian Film gets Best Film Award at Dhaka International Film Festival The Iranian film ‘Castle of Dreams’ directed

by Reza Mirakarimi won the Best Film Award

in Asian Competition section of the

18th Dhaka International Film Festival

(DIFF). The film also won the Best Director

Award. Indian film ‘Finally Love’ directed by

AnjanDutt bagged Best Audience Award in

Cinema of the World Category.

In the Asian Competition segment, Sri

Lankan director Prasanna Vithanage’s film

‘Children of the Sun’ won Special Jury Award. Best Actress Award went to Arezoo

Ariapoor, Ferestha Afshar and Hasiba Ebrahimi for their acting in Afghanistan-Iran-

France joint venture film ‘Hava, Maryamk, Ayesha’ while the Best Actor Award went to

Lousie Abuel for his acting in the film ‘Edward’.

36. Greece’s parliament elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as its 1st woman President Greece elected Katerina Sakellaropoulou as

first woman President. She is a high court

judge and human rights activist. She was

elected by 261 members in the 300-seat

legislative body, creating historic

parliamentary vote. She succeeded

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, whose five-

year term expires in March 2020.

In 2018, Katerina Sakellaropoulou became

first woman to serve as president of the

Council of State, which is Greece’s top administrative court. She has served as a

member of the Association of Judiciary Functionaries of the Council of State.


68

37. Microsoft pledged to be carbon negative by 2030 Microsoft pledged to become 100% “carbon-

negative” by 2030 and by 2050 it will remove

from the environment all the carbon the

company has emitted either directly or by

electrical consumption since it was founded in

1975. The US tech giant announced to invest

$1 billion in “climate innovation fund” for

technology for carbon capture and removal.

Microsoft will shift to 100% supply of

renewable energy by 2025 and electrify all of

its global campus operations vehicle fleet by 2030. It will form its carbon removal

portfolio annually by assessing NET attributes of scalability, affordability, commercial

availability and verifiability.

38. Myanmar and China signed 33 bilateral deals Myanmar and China signed 33 bilateral deals

including agreements, MoUs, exchange

letters and protocols on two-day visit by the

Chinese President Xi Jinping to Myanmar.

Myanmar and China also signed 13 more

agreements to strengthen collaboration in

the infrastructure sector including roads, rail

connectivity and power interconnection

projects.

The two countries signed a concession

agreement and shareholders’ agreement for the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone

(SEZ) deep seaport project. The port will link the land locked Yunnan province of China

directly to the Indian Ocean allowing China to bypass the strait of Malacca.

39. Qatar named Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin Abdelaziz Al Thani new PM Qatar appointed Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa bin

Abdelaziz Al Thani as the new Prime Minister.

He replaced Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin

Khalifa Al Thani who has submitted his

resignation.

The new prime minister had been the head of

the Amiri Diwan, the emir's office. He worked

in the gas industry and was educated in the

United States before going on to work for

Sheikh Tamim when he was the crown

prince.


69

40. Agni Sapkota elected Speaker of House of Representatives in Nepal The ruling Nepal Communist Party's Agni

Sapkota has been elected as the Speaker

of the House of Representatives, the lower

house of Parliament in Nepal. The post of

Speaker was lying vacant since October

last year after Mr Krishna Bahadur Mahara

resigned following allegations of

attempted rape.

Mr Sapkota was elected unopposed.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari

administered oath of office and secrecy to

Saptoka. The Vice President of Nepal is Nanda Bahadur Pun and Prime Minister is K P

Sharma Oli.

41. 13th edition of International Children’s Film Festival of Bangladesh The 13th edition of the International

Children’s Film Festival of Bangladesh was

held in Dhaka. The festival is the only

international film festival for children and

young adults of the country. The theme of

this year’s festival was ‘Under The World’.

The festival organized by the Children’s

Film Society, Bangladesh featured 173

films from 39 countries. The festival was

inaugurated with the screening of the German film ‘Rocca Changes the World’ directed

by Katja Benrath.

42. Britain released new 50 pence coin to celebrate Brexit The British government unveiled a new 50

pence coin minted to mark Brexit (British

exit). The coin bears the inscription “Peace,

prosperity and friendship with all nations”

along with the Brexit date mentioned below it

“31 January 2020”. Various banks, shops and

post offices have distributed three million of

the coins.

Brexit is the withdrawal of the United

Kingdom (UK) from the European Union

(EU). The bill implementing Britain’s exit from the European bloc officially became law on

23rd January.


70

1. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal of Ministry of

Home Affairs for extending the deputation tenure of IPS Abhinav Kumar,

Inspector General, Border Security Force (BSF), up to June 27, 2021, in

relaxation of IPS Tenure Policy.

2. Indian Railways has renamed its security force RPF (Railway Protection Force) as

Indian Railway Protection Force Service.

3. India's gold imports fell about 7%, to 20.6 billion dollars during April to November

2019-20.

4. Reserve Bank of India bought 10,000 crore rupees of long-term government

securities and sold 8,501 crore rupees of three short-term bonds.

5. Pragati Maidan Metro station was renamed as Supreme Court Metro Station.

6. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the reappointment of

Vinod Kumar Yadav as Chairman, Railway Board for a period of one year.

7. The Union Ministry of Science and Technology have awarded Swarna Jayanti

Fellowships to 14 scientists to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science

and technology.

8. Senior Nationalist Congress Party leader and former MP, D P Tripathi passed away

in Delhi.

9. The 5th Ice Hockey Association of India (IHAI) National Ice Hockey Championship

-2020 has begun in Leh, Ladakh.

10. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is to conduct Asiatic Lion Census in May 2020.

The Institute will use 10000 cameras to conduct the census.

11. National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India has taken suo motu cognizance

of media reports about the death of more than 100 children at a government run

hospital in Kota district of Rajasthan.

12. Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader and Nagaland Assembly

Speaker Vikho-o Yhoshu passed away.

13. “Lawn bowls” and “cycling” will be included in the 3rd edition of Khelo India

Games. The two games will be included in the event for the first time.

14. President Ram Nath Kovind laid foundation stone to Lakshadweep's first Super

Specialty Hospital at Kavaratti.

15. World No.1, Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, Saurabh

Chaudhary won the men’s gold in 10-metre air pistol in the 63rd National

shooting championship.

16. The Journalists’ Day was celebrated on 6th of January in the state of

Maharashtra. It is celebrated in the memory of late thespian journalist Balshashtri

Jambhekar.

17. ASCEND 2020 Global Investors Meet was held in Kochi with the aim of lending

pace to the Ease of Doing Business in the state.

18. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will observe 2020 as the 'year of

mobility' that will have a special focus on creation of more residential units and

implementation of various welfare measures for the troops.

19. India's P Magesh Chandran lifted the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious

Hastings International Chess Congress at Hastings in England.

20. The 5th Asia Pacific Drosophila Research Conference was held at Pune and it was

organised by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research.

21. India’s leading Digital lending startup, RevFin has joined hands with PNB MetLife

India Insurance Company to offer protection to the RevFin’s customers by

bundling life insurance cover on their loans.

Miscellaneous


71

22. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has enabled select banks in India to offer round-

the-clock (24×7) trading in the Indian rupee to allow Indians to safeguard their

foreign exchange (Forex) risks at any time.

23. Indian women weightlifter Sarbjeet Kaur has been banned for 4 years from the

sport by the National Anti Doping Agency.

24. Three Colonial structures re-dedicated to Kolkata.

25. India erects “steel fence” across Pakistan, Bangladesh border.

26. Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ravi

Shankar Prasad inaugurated the submarine cable works on laying between

Chennai – Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

27. The Ukrainian aircraft “Boeing 737” boarding 176 people crashed in Tehran, Iran.

28. The Cabinet approved conferring the status of Institution of National Importance

to a cluster of Ayurvedic institutions.

29. Securities and Exchange Board of India stock market regulator has deferred the

deadline to 1st April 2022 for the separation of the posts of Chairman & Managing

Director or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for 500 listed companies.

30. In a major landmark for indigenous Indian aviation, the naval version of the Tejas

light combat aircraft (LCA) made a successful short landing with arrestor wires on

the Shore Based Test Facility (SBTF) in Goa.

31. Postal Ballot facility has been made available for the Super Senior Citizens (over

80 years of age) and PwDs in the Delhi Assembly Election.

32. Alok Kansal, a senior officer of the 1983 batch of Indian Railway Service of

Engineers (IRSE), took over the charge as General Manager of Western Railway.

33. The famous Parshuram Kund Mela was celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh.

34. Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel launched

exhibition titled Indian Heritage in Digital Space and a two day long first

international heritage symposium in Delhi.

35. The fifth edition of Science Film Festival of India (SCI-FFI) 2020 was held in

Panaji, Goa.

36. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) celebrated its 15th Raising Day.

37. India’s first-ever, global Mega-Science exhibition, ‘Vigyan Samagam’, was held in

New Delhi. This was fourth such exhibition after being organised at Mumbai,

Bengaluru and Kolkata.

38. The Department of Biotechnology organised an International Summit on Women

in STEM – “Visualising the Future: New Skylines” at India Habitat Centre, New

Delhi.

39. Meghalaya celebrated the 48th anniversary of statehood day on 21st January

with cultural fanfares immersed in remnants of the ‘Hill State Movement’ that led

up to the declaration of Meghalaya as a separate state in the year 1972.

40. Puducherry Chief Minister Narayanasamy launched the Intensified Pulse Polio

Immunisation (IPPI) programme in the Union Territory.

41. Vinesh Phogat won her first gold medal of the 2020 season at the Rome Ranking

Series while teen sensation Anshu Malik settled for a silver in 57kg competition.

42. Union Minister for Heavy Industries Prakash Javadekar inaugurated ELECRAMA

2020, the flagship showcase of the Indian electrical industry, in Greater Noida.

43. Sania Mirza and her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok have won the women's

doubles title of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) International trophy at

Hobart in Australia.

44. In Assam, the militant outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland signed a

tripartite Suspension of Operarion Agreement with the Centre and the Assam

Government.


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45. 'Women with wheels', a unique taxi service has been launched at the Indira

Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi.

46. Maharashtra Government has made the reading of the Preamble of the

Constitution mandatory for the Maharashtra schools.

47. Indian airports have started thermal screening of passengers arriving in India

from China and Hong Kong to stop the Corona Virus spread in India.

48. The Bilateral International Treaty organisation, an international arbitration

tribunal recently dismissed all the claims against India.

49. Union Minister Arjun Munda was elected as President of the Archery Association of

India (AAI).

50. Eminent journalist and chairman of “The Hindu Group” N Ram honoured by Kerala

Media Academy.

51. In a major push to development in Jammu and Kashmir, around 1,256 projects

worth 2,280 crore rupees financed under J&K Infrastructure Development Finance

Corporation, are being completed by end of March 2020.

52. Himachal Pradesh celebrated its 50th Statehood Day. It was on this day in 1971

when Himachal Pradesh was carved out as the 18th State of the country.

53. Defence public sector undertaking (PSU) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and

Engineers (GRSE) is set to deliver anti-submarine warfare stealth corvette INS

Kavaratti to the Navy.

54. The Union Minister Piyush Goyal announced that Indian Railways will run 100%

on electricity by 2024.


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1. PM Modi disbursed 12,000 crore rupees to six crore farmers of PM-KISAN scheme Prime Minister Narendra Modi electronically

released 12,000 crore rupees under Pradhan

Mantri Samaan Yojana to six crore farmers.

He also awarded the Krishi Karman Award to

the progressive farmers from 21 states. The

fishermen of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were

also given deep sea fishing boats and

transponders that will help them to navigate

in the deep sea.

Prime Minister emphasised on agro exports,

value-addition of produce, marketing and

doubling of farmers’ income by 2022.

2. EC launched Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System The Election Commission (EC) launched a

Political Parties Registration Tracking

Management System to enable applicants to

track the status of the applications.

Under it, applicants, applying for the party

registration will be able to track the progress

of applications and will get the status through

SMS and e-mail. An association seeking

registration has to submit an application to

the Commission within a period of 30 days

from the date of its formation.

3. TRAI amended new regulatory framework for cable & broadcasting services Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

has made amendments to the new regulatory

framework for cable and broadcasting

services with a view to protect the consumer

interests. Under it, cable TV users will be able

to access more channels at lower subion

price.

The Authority has also capped at 160 rupees

the amount consumers will have to pay

monthly for all free to air channels. Authority

has also permitted DPOs to offer discounts on long term subions which is for 6 months or

more. TRAI has also reduced the maximum NCF charge to 130 rupees excluding taxes

for 200 channels.

National


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4. India improved Sustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions India improved its composite score from 57 in

2018 to 60 in the Sustainable Development

Goals Index 2019-20. This has been achieved

due to better works in water and sanitation,

affordable and clean energy and industry,

innovation, and infrastructure. Kerala topped

the index followed by Himachal Pradesh,

Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.

The states showing biggest improvement

since 2018 are Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and

Sikkim. The SDG India Index track the progress and ranks all States and Union

Territories on 100 indicators. It indicates where the country and its States and UTs

currently are on SDG implementation.

5. KVIC opened first silk processing plant in Gujarat In a historic initiative taken by Khadi and

Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a first

Silk Processing Plant was inaugurated at

Surendranagar in Gujarat which would help

cut down the cost of production of silk yarn

drastically and increase the sale and

availability of raw material for Gujarati

Patola Sarees locally.

The plant has been set up by a khadi

institution at a cost of Rs 75 lack in which

KVIC has contributeed Rs 60 lakh. The unit has employed 90 local women, 70 of which

belong to the Muslim community.

6. MEA sets up new emerging and strategic technologies (NEST) A special desk to increase investment

coordination between the different states of

India and foreign countries was created by

foreign ministry named as ‘New emerging

and strategic technologies (NEST) division.

NEST will act as the nodal division within the

ministry for issues pertaining to new and

emerging technologies such as security

implications of the introduction of 5G and

artificial intelligence.

NEST will not only help assess foreign policy

and international legal implications of emerging technology and technology-based

resources but also safeguard Indian interests at multilateral fora like the United Nations

or the G20.


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7. Indian Railways commissions first Waste to Energy Plant in Bhubaneswar Indian Railways has commissioned country’s

first governmental Waste to Energy Plant,

having capacity of 500 Kg waste per day, in

Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop at

Bhubaneswar in East Coast Railway. This

Waste to Energy Plant, a patented technology

called POLYCRACK, is first-of-its-kind in

Indian Railways and fourth in India.

The project is world’s first patented

heterogeneous catalytic process which

converts multiple feed stocks into hydrocarbon liquid fuels, gas, carbon and water. The

total plant installation cost is Rs 1.79 crore.

8. NITI Aayog released SDG India Index and Dashboard 2019 NITI Aayog released the second edition of

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

India Index, which comprehensively

documented the progress made by India’s

States and Union Territories towards

achieving the 2030 SDG targets.

The SDG India Index 2019 tracks progress of

all States and UTs on 100 indicators drawn

from the MoSPI’s National Indicator

Framework (NIF). The process of selection of

these indicators included multiple consultations with Union ministries/departments and

States/UTs. Additionally, this year, the SDG India Index report has a new section on

profiles to analyse their performance on all goals in a lucid manner.

9. Fame India Scheme sanctioned 2636 EV Charging Stations in Phase-II In order to give a further push to clean

mobility in Road Transport Sector, the

Department of Heavy Industries sanctioned

2636 charging stations in 62 cities across 24

States/UTs under FAME India (Faster

Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric

Vehicles in India) scheme phase II.

Government sanctioned 2636 charging

stations to 62 cities submitted by 19 public

entities for 24 states. Out of these 2636

charging stations, 1633 Charging Stations

will be Fast Charging Stations and 1003 will be slow charging stations. With this, about

14000 Charging Stations will be installed across the selected cities.


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10. 2nd round of Intensified Mission Indradhanush- 2 begins The second phase of Intensified Mission

Indradhanush 2.0 rolled out at block level in

35 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The aim of the

program launched by central government in

2017 is to achieve 90% vaccination coverage

in children of less than 2 years in state.

Under the program around 66 thousand

sessions will be organised for vaccination of

more than 5.5 lakh children and around 1.3

lakh pregnant women of state. Intensified

Mission Indradhanush will be conducted till

March 2020.

11. Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid foundation stone of ‘Delhi Cycle Walk’ Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation

stone of Delhi Cycle Walk project at

Tughlakabad in New Delhi. It is aimed at

making the city most walkable and

environment friendly. This 36 kilometre

project is first phase of Delhi Cycle Walk

which will have whole network of over 220

km.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 550

crore. It will be implemented by the Delhi

Development Authority and likely to be

completed in four years.

12. BEE sets default temperature of 24 degrees Celsius in ACs The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has set

a default temperature of 24 degrees Celsius in

all room air conditioners with effect from

January 1, 2020. The central government in

consultation with BEE had notified new energy

performance standards for room air

conditioners (RACs) on October 30, 2019.

The new norms provide that the Indian

Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) as

per the new standards will range from 3.30 to

5 for split and 2.70 to 3.50 for window air

conditioners.


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13. Government released State Energy Efficiency Index 2019 Union Government released the State Energy

Efficiency Index 2019, which tracks the

progress of Energy Efficiency initiatives in 36

States and Union Territories. The index

incorporates qualitative, quantitative and

outcome-based indicators to assess energy

efficiency initiatives, programs and outcomes

in five distinct sectors.

The index is developed by Bureau of Energy

Efficiency in association with Alliance for an

Energy Efficient Economy. It will help states to contribute towards national goals on

energy security and climate action by helping drive Energy Efficiency policies and

programmme implementation at the state and local level.

14. Government authorised Rs 5559 cr for Indradhanush gas grid project The Union Government authorised the

amount of Rs 5559 crore for 1656 Km long

Indradhanush Natural Gas Pipeline Grid

project which will connect eight states of the

North-Eastern region. The amount will be

provided as Viability Gap Funding (VGF). The

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had

approved a Capital Grant as the Viability Gap

Funding to Indradhanush Gas Grid Ltd for

setting up the North East Natural Gas Pipeline

Grid.

The total estimated cost of funding was capped at ₹9,265 crores (including interest

during construction) for the project.

15. IP based Video Surveillance System installed by Indian Railways In order to enhance security at Railway

stations which are major hubs of

transportation, Indian Railways is in the

process of installing Internet Protocol (IP)

based Video Surveillance System (VSS) at

stations. Railway Board has approved works

for provision of Video Surveillance System

covering 983 stations over Indian Railways

under Nirbhaya funds.

RailTel, a Miniratna PSU under Ministry of

Railways, has been entrusted with the work

of providing IP based VSS with video analytics and facial recognition system. Video

Surveillance System is expected to ensure better security of passengers at railway

stations and railway property.


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16. Home Minister Amit Shah dedicated National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to nation Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated

the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre

(I4C) and dedicated National Cyber Crime

Reporting Portal to the nation. This state-of-

the-art Centre is located in New Delhi.

National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal

(www.cybercrime.gov.in) is a citizen-centric

initiative that will enable citizens to report

cyber-crimes online through the portal. All

the cyber-crime related complaints will be

accessed by the concerned law enforcement agencies in the States and Union Territories

for taking action as per law.

17. Launch of Paperless Licensing for Petroleum Service Stations The Department for Promotion of Industry

and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched

paperless licensing process through

Petroleum and Explosives Safety

Organisation (PESO) for petroleum service

stations (retail outlets storing and

dispensing petrol/diesel for motor

conveyances) under the Petroleum Rules,

2002.

This initiative for petroleum pump licensing

will benefit more than 70,000 petroleum pump owners and oil marketing companies. The

authenticity of the license can also be verified on PESO’s website

https://peso.gov.in/index.aspx. This automation will greatly benefit the petroleum and

gas industry.

18. Cabinet approved ordinance to amend Mineral laws Cabinet approved promulgation of Mineral

Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2020. The

Ordinance will amend Mines and Minerals

(Development and Regulation) Act 1957

and Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act

2015.

These amendments will open up new era to

the growth in the Coal and mining sectors.

The Ordinance will ease rules for auctioning

of coal mines and to open up to all sectors.

The government has also done away with end-use restrictions of the mining blocks.


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19. Cabinet approvals -The Cabinet approved for an Agreement

between India and Mongolia on Cooperation

in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space

for Peaceful and Civilian Purposes.

-The Cabinet approved MoU with the

Department for International Development

Government of the United Kingdom for

Enabling Energy Self-Sufficiency for Indian

Railways.

-The Cabinet apprised MoU in polar science

between Ministry of Earth Sciences,

Government of India and Ministry of Education and Research, Sweden.

-The Cabinet gave its approval for the ratification of Migration and Mobility Partnership

Agreement between India and France.

-The Cabinet approved MoU between Department of Health and Family Welfare and Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundation.

20. Minister of Petroleum launched Purvodaya to accelerate Eastern India Development Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas

Dharmendra Pradhan launched PURVODAYA:

Accelerated development of eastern India

through integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West

Bengal. Purvodaya, in steel sector, is aimed

at driving accelerated development of Eastern

India through establishment of integrated

steel hub.

The proposed Integrated Steel Hub,

encompassing Odisha, Jharkhand,

Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Northern

Andhra Pradesh, would serve as a torchbearer for socio-economic growth of Eastern

India. The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition and improve

overall competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality.

21. IEA released India’s Energy Policy Report In partnership with NITI Aayog, International

Energy Agency (IEA) released the first in-

depth review of India's energy policies. It

examines the country's achievements in

developing its energy. The report provides

insights into the rise of India in global energy

markets. The IEA regularly conducts in-depth

reviews of energy policies for its member and

association countries.

IEA report appreciated the Indian

government’s efforts on its outstanding achievements in extending citizens' access to

electricity, affordable efficient lighting and clean cooking in record time through historic

schemes like SAUBHAGYA, UJALA and UJJWALA.


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22. India, Bangladesh signed MoU for content exchange programme between All India Radio and Bangladesh Betar India has signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) with Bangladesh for

content exchange programme between All

India Radio and Bangladesh Betar. It will give

more dimension to content exchange

between the two countries.

An MoU between National Film Development

Corporation, India and Film Development

Corporation, Bangladesh, was also signed.

India and Bangladesh, together, are co-

producing the biopic on the life and works of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The

film is expected to be released by March 2020.

23. Hallmarking of gold jewellery, artefacts made mandatory The government has made the process of

hallmarking of gold jewellery mandatory but it

has given one year’s time to jewellers to

register themselves with the Bureau of Indian

Standards (BIS) and clear their old stock.

Gold hallmarking is a purity certification of the

precious metal.

Hallmarking will be done for jewellery in 3

categories - 14 carats, 18 carats and 22

carats. The mandatory hallmarking will also

ensure that consumers don't get cheated

while buying gold ornaments and get the same purity and carat as marked on the

ornament.

24. NIIT to be a part of NEAT programme National Institute of Information Technology

was selected to work with AICTE and

implement the vision of Ministry of HRD on

NEAT. NIIT will institute 5 awards of Rs

50,000 for faculties and 10 awards of Rs

10,000 for students.

National Educational Alliance for Technology

(NEAT) was launched to customise learning

process using AI methodologies that can be

used to address diversity in learners. Union

Government has selected NIIT as one of the

EdTech companies for the NEAT initiative through PPP model that aims at creating

EdTech Companies.


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25. Government awards Rs 2379 cr for completing Z Morh tunnel The government has awarded Rs 2379 crore

for completion of the 6.5-kilometre long Z-

Morh tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir. The two-

lane bi-directional tunnel with parallel escape

tunnel will be completed in 3.5 years.

NHIDCL and APCO Amarnathji Tunnelway

signed an agreement in this regards.

The project includes construction, operation

and maintenance of the tunnel. Z-Morh

Tunnel will provide all-weather road

connectivity to Sonmarg, tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir

26. DV Sadananda Gowda launched APNA UREA – SonaUgle” brand of HURL Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister D.V.

Sadananda Gowda launched the APNA UREA

- Sona Ugle brand of Hindustan Urvarak and

Rasayan Limited (HURL). HURL is Joint

Venture Company promoted by the three

Maha Ratna Companies - Coal India Limited,

NTPC Limited and Indian Oil Corporation

Limited.

HURL has undertaken the revival of 3 urea plants located at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh),

Sindri(Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar) as a part of Prime Minister Modi’s direction of

revival of 5 major fertilizer plants. The other two plants are at Ramagundam(Telangana)

and Talcher (Odisha).

27. Mega campaign ‘Saksham’ launched by Petroleum Minister Saksham, an annual one-month long fuel

conservation mega campaign of Petroleum

Conservation Research Association (PCRA)

under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and

Natural Gas, was launched by Dr. M.M Kutty,

Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural

Gas in Delhi.

Saksham aims at creating mass awareness

among public about conventional fuel

conservation. It will help in progressively

reduction of carbon footprint and lead to fulfilling government's commitment for greener

environment. Publicity vans of PCRA were launched at the event which shall visit rural

areas and spread messages about fuel conservation awareness.


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28. Cabinet committee approved the closure of Hindustan Fluorocarbons plant in Telangana

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

has approved shutting down the operations of

the plant and unit of Hindustan Fluorocarbons

Limited, HFL and closure of the company. HFL

is a Central Public Sector Enterprise under

Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

HFL has only one plant located at Rudraram,

District Sangareddy in Telangana.

Government granted a interest free loan of

over 77 crore rupees to HFL for expenditure

exclusively on closure.

29. NIC Tech Conclave 2020 The second edition of the TechConclave was

held at Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra, New Delhi. It

was organised by the National Informatics

Centre (NIC). The theme of the conclave is

"Technologies for NextGen Governance".

The conclave covered the latest trends in

Information and Communications Technology

(ICT) that are applicable for the expansion of

various products and platforms of

eGovernance. NIC has been deeply associated

with the Government for effective

Governance.

30. Cabinet approved Model MoU with foreign countries for unilateral/bilateral recognition of Certificates of Competency of seafarers The Union Cabinet approved the Model

Memorandum of Understanding for

unilateral/bilateral recognition of Certificates

for the competency of the seafarers. The

certificates are pursuant to Regulation 1/10 of

International Convention on Standards of

Training, Certification and Watch-keeping

(STCW) for Seafarers, 1978. The MoU will

further be signed between the Directorate

General of Shipping, Government of India and

its counterparts in foreign countries.

The unilateral MoU would facilitate unilateral recognition by another country of the

certificates issued by the Directorate General of Shipping to Indian seafarers, without

seeking similar recognition by India of the certificates issued by that country.


83

31. Cabinet approved MoUs among India, Tunisia and Papua New Guinea Electoral Commission The Union Cabinet approved for allowing the

Election Commission to enter into Memoranda

of Understanding (MoU) with the Independent

High Authority for Elections of Tunisia (ISIE)

and the Papua New Guinea Electoral

Commission (PNGEC) for cooperation in the

field of electoral management and

administration.

The MOUs would promote bilateral

cooperation, aimed at building technical

assistance/ capacity support for ISIE and the

PNGEC. This would also result in bolstering India's international relations.

32. Cabinet approved MoU with Brazil on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters The Union Cabinet approved the agreement

with Brazil on Mutual Legal Assistance in

Criminal Matters. The Agreement aims to

enhance effectiveness of both the countries in

investigation and prosecution of crime

through cooperation and Mutual Legal

Assistance in Criminal Matters.

In the context of transnational crime and its

linkages to terrorism, the proposed

Agreement will provide a broad legal

framework for bilateral cooperation with Brazil

in investigation and prosecution of crime as well as in tracing, restraint and confiscation

of proceeds and instruments of crime as well as the fund meant to finance terrorist acts.

33. Cabinet approved MoU between India and Brazil for cooperation in the oil and natural gas sector The Union Cabinet approved MoU with Brazil

on cooperation in the field of oil and natural

gas. The MoU will enhance cooperation

between the two sides in oil and natural gas

sector.

Under the MoU, both sides will work towards

establishing cooperation in the E&P initiatives

in Brazil and India, research & development in

this sector, explore collaboration in Liquefied

Natural Gas projects in Brazil, India and third

countries.


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34. Cabinet approved Revised Cost Estimates for establishment of permanent campus of new NITs The Union Cabinet has approved the Revised

Cost Estimates (RCE) for establishment of

permanent campuses of new National

Institutes of Technology (NITs), at a total cost

of Rs.4371.90 crore for the period till 2021 -

2022. These NITs were established in the year

2009 and started functioning from academic

year 2010-2011.

With the approved Revised Cost Estimates,

these NITs will be fully functional from their

respective permanent campuses by 31st

March, 2022. The overall student capacity in these campuses will be 6320.

35. Cabinet approved signing of MoU between Brazil and India for bilateral cooperation in the field of early childhood The Union Cabinet has given its approval for

signing of Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) on Cooperation between the Ministry of

Citizenship of the Federative Republic of Brazil

and the Ministry of Women &Child

Development of the Republic of India for

bilateral cooperation in the field of early

childhoods.

The MoU will strengthen the bonds of

friendship between the two countries and

increase bilateral cooperation on the issues of

early childhood care. Both countries will benefit from exchange of best practices of the

respective countries in the field of early childhood.

36. Cabinet approved MoU between India and Brazil on Cooperation in field of Geology and Mineral Resources The Union Cabinet has given its approval for

the Memorandum of Understanding to be

signed between Geological Survey of India

(GSI) and Geological Survey of Brazil – CPRM,

on “Cooperation in field of Geology and Mineral

Resources”.

The MoU will provide an institutional

mechanism between Geological Survey of

India, Ministry of Mines of the Republic of India

and Geological Survey of Brazil – CPRM,

Ministry of Mines and Energy of the Federative

Republic of Brazil for co-operation in field of Geology and Mineral Resources.


85

37. Indian Oil signed MoU with National Petroleum Authority of Ghana Indian Oil has signed a MoU with the National

Petroleum Authority (NPA) of Ghana for

providing its assistance and technical

expertise in the implementation of Ghana’s

National LPG Promotion Policy. The MoU will

strengthen co-operation between the Parties

in the field of Petroleum in particular LPG by

which Indian Oil would support the NPA on

the successful implementation of the Re-

Circulation Model (CRM) of LPG.

The MoU also provides for administrative

assistance to Indian Oil in case it decides to participate as a commercial participant in

Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector.

38. Ministry of Rural Development signed MoU with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Ministry of Rural Development signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) under

the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National

Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), for

furthering their mutual objectives of

strengthening grassroots institutions of the

rural poor.

The MoU reiterates DAY-NRLM and the

Foundation’s shared focus on improving the

lives of India’s poor and the marginalized. DAY-NRLM is also building social capital and

ensuring financial linkages to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of the life of poor

rural women.

39. SAIL launches SERVICE - a scheme to promote Voluntary Philanthropist Activities by its employees Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has

launched a scheme to promote Voluntary

Philanthropist Activities (VPA) by its

employees. The scheme called “SAIL

Employee Rendering Voluntarism and

Initiatives for Community Engagement

(SERVICE)” will promote and facilitate

philanthropist activities by the employees in

a structured manner.

SAIL also has a dedicated interactive “SAIL

SERVICE” portal for implementation of this

Scheme. SAIL will undertake mass mobilisation programmes in its plants and units to

spread awareness about this scheme and to encourage employees to participate in VPS.


86

40. Government signed USD 210 million loan agreement with World Bank The Government of India, the Government of

Maharashtra and the World Bank signed a

loan agreement of USD 210 million to support

small holder farmers participate in competitive

agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-

business investments, increase market access

and productivity in focus commodities.

The USD 210 million Maharashtra

Agribusiness and Rural Transformation

Project, will help build capacity of the nodal

departments and institutions and increase

private sector investments in agricultural value chains. The USD 210 million loan from

the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) has a 6-year grace

period and a maturity period of 13.5 years.

41. GoI launched “Seismic Hazard Microzonation” to minimise earthquake disasters The Ministry of Earth Science has launched

Seismic Hazard Microzonation in major cities

of India to minimise earthquake disasters

and reduce hazards of seismic activities by

putting in adequate measures. Seismic

Hazard Microzonation is the process of

dividing earth quake prone areas based on

certain factors such as landslide, liquefaction

susceptibility, rock fall hazard and prepare

preventive measures to minimise the losses.

As per seismic zoning of the country, over

59% of India's land mass is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard, i.e.

prone to shaking.

42. India joined Reskilling Revolution Initiative at World Economic Forum as a founding member India joined the Reskilling Revolution Initiative

launched at the World Economic Forum as

founding government member. The other

founding members of this initiative are US,

UAE, Russia, Pakistan, France and Brazil.

According to the World Economic Forum,

around 75 million jobs are to be displaced

thus creating 133 million new jobs. In order to

avoid large scale unemployment affecting the

labour population greatly, WEF launched

Reskilling Revolution initiative.

World Economic Forum's (WEF) Reskilling Revolution is an initiative to provide one billion

people with better education, skills and jobs by 2030.


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43. India to set up Maritime Research Coordination Centre in Sri Lanka National Security Adviser AjitDoval met with

Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa during

his day-long visit to Colombo. India and Sri

Lanka agreed to further strengthen

cooperation to ensure maritime security in

Indian Ocean region and sharing of

intelligence inputs.

Establishing an Earth Co-ordinating Centre

was also discussed and 50 million US dollar

credit line to purchase equipment for the Sri

Lankan military was promised as part of the defence cooperation. Mr Doval outlined the

importance of reviewing maritime domain awareness concept between Sri Lanka,

Maldives and India and to include other regional states as observers.

44. Government targets to install 175GW renewable energy by 2022 The Government has targeted to install 175

Giga Watt renewable energy by 2022 to build

a healthy planet with less carbon intensive

economy. In line to the target, through

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Surkasha Evam

Utthan Mahabhiyan, PM-KUSUM scheme,

government empowers the farmers to be the

producer of energy.

The PM-KUSUM scheme covers grid

connected renewable energy power plants,

stand alone solar powered agricultural pumps

and solarization of existing grid connected agriculture pumps. All three components

together are likely to result in saving of about 27 million tonnes of CO2 emission per

annum.

45. Government invited bids to sell 100 % stake in Air India Government has invited bids to sell its 100%

stake in Air India. It has set March 17 as the

deadline for submitting expression of

interest. As part of the strategic

disinvestment, Air India would also sell 100%

stake in low-cost airline Air India Express and

50% shareholding in joint venture AISATS.

Management control of the airline would also

be transferred to the successful bidder. The

successful bidder will continue to use Air

India brand.


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46. Government signed accord with National Democratic Front of Bodoland The Union Government signed an accord

with the Assam-based different insurgent

groups and civil societies including the

National Democratic Front of Bodoland. The

accord will provide political, economic,

executive and land rights to Bodo tribals

and also will safeguard their cultural and

linguistic identities. The Centre and State

Government will provide financial assistance

of 1,500 crore rupees for the economic

development of the community.

The government will appoint a commission which will include representatives of State

Government and other stakeholders. It will submit its recommendations within six

months from the date of notification.

47. List of MoUs/Agreements between Brazil and India

India and Brazil signed following 15 MoUs during

the visit of the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro:

MoU on Bioenergy Co-operation

MoU for Co-operation in the field of Oil

and Natural Gas

Investment Co-operation and Facilitation

Treaty

Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance in

Criminal Matters

MoU in the field of Early Childhood

MoU on Co-operation in the field of Health

and Medicine

MoU co-operation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy

Cultural Exchange Programme for the period 2020-2024

Agreement on Social Security

MoU on co-operation in the area of Cyber Security

Agreement on scientific and technological co-operation

MoU on Co-operation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources

MoU between Invest India and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion

Agency (Apex Brazil)

MoU on Co-operation in the fields of Animal Husbandry and Dairying

MoU on Co-operation for establishing a nodal institution in India to carry out

research on Bioenergy.


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1. India’s Malavath Poorna scaled Antarctica’s Highest Peak India's Malavath Poorn conquered Mt. Vinson

Massif, Antarctica’s highest mountain peak

(4,987 mts). Malavath Poorna became the

first tribal woman in the world to set foot on

the six tallest mountain peaks across six

continents. She climbed the world’s highest

mountain Mt. Everest, 5 years ago. Other

mountain peaks include Mt. Kilimanjaro

(Africa, 2016), Mt. Elbrus (Europe, 2017), Mt.

Aconcagua (South America, 2019) and Mt.

Cartsnez (Oceania region, 2019).

Telangana state’s Malavath Poorn aims to next conquer Mt. Denali, North America’s

highest mountain peak.

2. Aayushi Dholakia crowned Miss Teen International 2019 Vadodra’s Aayushi Dholakia was crowned Miss

Teen International 2019. She became the first

Asian to win the title in the last 27 years.

Yessenia Garcia from Paraguay and Anicia

Gaothusi from Botswana became the First and

second Runners-Up respectively.

Thu Phan from Vietnam was adjudged Miss

Teen Asia, Maria Luisa Piras from Italy bagged

the title of Miss Teen Europe, Anicia Gaothusi

from Botswana won Miss Teen Africa and

Alessandra Santos from Brazil became Miss

Teen America at the event. Miss Teen International is the world’s oldest running teen

pageant.

3. UN declared Malala Yousafzai ‘Most Famous Teenager of the Decade’ The UN has declared Pakistani education

activist and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai as

“the most famous teenager in the world” in its

‘Decade in Review’ report. In 2014, Malala

became the youngest recipient of the Nobel

Peace Prize in recognition of her efforts for

children’s rights.

Malala was also recently chosen by Teen

Vogue as its cover person for its last issue of

the decade. She was also appointed as the UN Messenger of Peace in 2017 with a special

focus on girls’ education.

Persons in News


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4. Iranian Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh announces her defection Iranian Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh

announced leaving the country. Alizadeh is the

only woman from Iran to have won the Olympic

medal. She made history at the Rio Olympics in

2016, when she won the bronze medal for her

country in Taekwondo.

Ms. Alizadeh’s announcement came four

months after Saeid Mollaei, one of Iran’s

biggest judo stars, defected to Germany. It is

reported that Ms. Alizadeh has moved to

Netherlands.

5. Captain Tania Shergill became 1st Woman to lead Republic Day contingent Captain Tania Shergill became the first woman

parade adjutant for the Republic Day parade.

A parade adjutant is responsible for the

parade. She was commissioned in March

2017, from the Officer Training Academy,

Chennai and is an officer with Army's Corps of

Signals.

In 2019 during Republic Day parade, Captain

Bhavna Kasturi was the first woman officer to

lead an all-men contingent. Major Nikhil

Maurya and Major Tarun Rathee lead the contingent of the Army's Parachute Regiment

Special forces.

6. Brazil President Bolsonaro was Chief Guest at 71st Republic Day President of Brazil Jair Messias Bolsonaro was

the Chief Guest at the 71st Republic Day

Parade at Raj Path in New Delhi. He is the

third Brazilian to atttend the ceremony after

Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 1996 and Luiz

Inacio Lula da Silva in 2004.

On the eve of the Republic Day, India

honoured two Brazilian women Lia Diskin and

Gloria Areria with Padma Shri. Diskin has

been disseminating Mahatma Gandhi's

philosophy in Brazil and Latin America for

almost 30 years. Areria is a Sanskrit scholar

and Vedanta teacher.


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1. 107th Indian Science Congress held in Bengaluru The 107th Indian Science Congress (ISC) was

held at the University of Agricultural Sciences

in Bengaluru. The theme of the event was

“Science and Technology: Rural

Development”. The aim of the summit was to

bridge the gap between farmer and tech-

developers.

During the inauguration of the 107th Indian

Science Congress, PM Narendra Modi

launched the Indian Science Technology and

Engineering Facilities Map (I-STEM) Portal. The portal has been designed to be the

gateway for researchers to locate a specific type of facility they require to conduct their

research and development work in India.

2. MECOS-3 held in Kochi, Kerala The third international symposium on marine

ecosystems – challenges and opportunities

(MECOS-3) was held in Kochi, Kerala. It was

organised by the Marine Biological Association

of India. Eminent marine scientists,

oceanographers, fisheries researchers and

marine biotechnologists from across the globe

participated in the event.

The meet focussed on the UN’s sustainable

development goal-14 (life under water), development of small-scale fisheries, recent

developments in aquaculture, eco-labelling and green fishing technologies.

3. South Asian Trade and Travel Exchange Expo 2020 held in New Delhi The 27th edition of South Asian Trade and

Travel Exchange Expo (SATTE) 2020 was

organised in New Delhi so as to build new

business partnerships and hence was an

important place for the promotion of tourism.

The three-day expo was witnessed by 1,050

exhibitors, 200 foreign buyers from over 50 +

countries and 500+ domestic hosted buyers

from 104 Indian cities.

SATTE 2020 delivered an exciting line-up of conferences to enlighten the industry by

addressing the challenges faced and opportunities that Indian tourism offers.

Places in News


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4. Raisina Dialogue held in New Delhi India's flagship global conference on

geopolitics and geo-economics, Raisina

Dialogue, was held in New Delhi. The fifth

edition of the prestigious event was jointly

organised by the Ministry of External Affairs

and the Observer Research Foundation.

The theme for this year was 21@20:

Navigating the Alpha Century.The three-day

conference saw the participation of 12 Foreign Ministers, including from Russia, Iran,

Australia, Maldives, South Africa, Denmark, Uzbekistan and the EU.

5. Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity placed in ‘8 Wonders of SCO’ Shanghai Cooperation Organisation included India's 182-meter-tall Statue of Unity in the

8 Wonders of SCO’ list. The 'Statue of Unity’ is the world's tallest statue and monumental

tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel,

independent India's first home minister as

well as deputy prime minister.

Other 7 wonders include

-Kyrgyzstan — Lake Issyk-Kul

-The Golden Ring cities of Russia

-Po-I-Kalan Complex in Uzbekistan

-Tamgaly Gorge in Kazakhstan

-Mughal Heritage in Pakistan

-Navruz Palace in Tajikistan

-Daming Palace in China

6. Lucknow hosted the 7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference 2020 Commonwealth Parliamentarians (CPA) from

the largest democracy in the world gather at

the India Regional Conference which was

held for the first time in Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh. Over 100 Commonwealth

Parliamentarians from across India have

renewed their focus on Parliament’s role in

the sustainable development agenda and

reaffirmed their commitment to democracy at

the 7th CPA.

In the two-day conference, discussions included increasing the efficiency of the people's

representatives and improving the standard of the House's meetings. The CPA India

Regional Conference brought together Speakers and Members of Parliament from the

national Parliament of India.


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7. 9th International Children's Film Festival held in Kolkata The 9th International Children's Film Festival

was held in Kolkata with the screening of

Aizaz Khan directed Hamid and the closing

film is Alfons Jitterbit - Countdown to Chaos.

About 250 films from 45 countries were

screened in the week-long festival.

The special sections at the festival included

Twilight Films, Literature & Cinema, Masters

& The Kid, Retrospective, Fairy Tales, World

Cinema, Indian Panorama, Looking Back (Bengali), Documentary & Shorts.

8. 'Bharat Parv 2020' held at Red Fort Bharat Parv 2020, a festival to celebrate the

spirit of India, was held at Red Fort ground in

New Delhi from 26-31 January, 2020. The

objective of Bharat Parv is to encourage

people to visit different tourism places of the

country and to inculcate the spirit of ‘Dekho

Apna Desh’.

The theme of this year’s Bharat Parv is 'Ek

Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' and celebrating 150

Years of Mahatma Gandhi.

9. Mumbai International Film Festival The oldest international event for non-feature

films in South Asia, the Mumbai International

Film Festival for Documentary, Short Fiction &

Animation Films, was held in Mumbai. It was

the 16th edition of the biennial festival.

The coveted Dr. V Shantaram Lifetime

Achievement Award was conferred on Dr. S.

Krishnaswamy, one of India’s most senior and

active filmmakers, for his lifelong, invaluable

contribution to non-fiction filmmaking. It carries a cash award of 10 lakh rupees, trophy

and a citation.


94

10. 3rd Global Potato Conclave The 3rd Global Potato Conclave was held in

Gandhinagar, Gujarat from January 28-31.

It was organised by Indian Potato

Association (IPA) in collaboration with Indian

Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR), New

Delhi, and ICAR-Central Potato Research

Institute, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and

International Potato Center (CIP), Lima,

Peru.

Gujarat is one of the leading producers of Potato in the country. In the last eleven years

alone, while the area under potato in India, has increased by 19%, it has increased by

about 170% in Gujarat.

11. 10 more wetlands from India get the Ramsar site tag Ramsar has declared 10 more wetlands from

India as sites of international importance.

Maharashtra got its first Ramsar site —Nandur

Madhameshwar. Punjab which already had

three added three more Keshopur-Miani, Beas

Conservation Reserve, Nangal. Uttar Pradesh

with one Ramsar site has added six more—

Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur,

Sandi and SarsaiNawar.

With this, the numbers of Ramsar sites in India are now 37 and the surface area covered

by these sites is now 1,067,939 hectares. The Ramsar Convention is one of the oldest

inter-governmental accord signed by member countries to preserve ecological character

of their wetlands of international importance.

12. India’s first war memorial for animals to be set up in Meerut A first of its kind war memorial for animals is

being planned in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Government has planned animal war memorial at

the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre

and College in Meerut. India's first war memorial

will include service animals with more than 300

dogs, 350 handlers and a few horses’ mules.

It is similar to that of National War Memorial in

Delhi and is dedicated to the heroics of animals

who have helped the army in counter-insurgency

operations in Kashmir and in the battlefield during the Kargil War.


95

1. Ritualistic festival ‘Lai Haraoba’ celebrated in Tripura Tripura celebrated Lai Haraoba, a ritualistic

festival which is observed by Manipuri Meitei

communities since ancient times. The five-day

long festival was organised by Department of

Information and Cultural Affairs, Government

of Tripura, Puthiba Lai Haraoba Committee

and Puthiba Welfare & Cultural Society,

Agartala.

The festival aims to uphold tradition and

cultural values of Meitei community. Lai

Haraobawas celebrated through oral literature, music, dance and rituals. A cultural

troupe from Manipur performed various cultural and traditional musical skits including

Manipuri martial arts, folk music and folk dances during the festival.

2. Maharashtra state launched ‘Cyber Safe Women’ initiative Maharashtra Government launched a ‘Cyber

Safe Women’ initiative under which awareness

camps were held across all the districts of the

state regarding cyber safety. The initiative will

help in educating women about how the web

is used by anti-social elements and child

predators to commit various types of crimes.

The state government will also organise

lectures on cybercrime information

The campaign will spread awareness on cybercrimes such as cyberbullying, internet

phishing, fraud identity on marriage site, bank fraud, photo shuffling, child pornography,

online gaming, false information sites.

3. Gujarat state launched ‘Study in Gujarat’ campaign Education department of Gujarat government

launched ‘Study in Gujarat’ campaign in order

to make Gujarat State an educational hub at

national and international level. As a part of

this campaign, a high level delegation will

hold road shows in western Asian countries

and in 10 cities of India including Shrinagar.

22 private and government universities and 4

colleges participated in ‘Study in Gujarat’

campaign. Prominent Universities and

educational institutions like CEPT, Gapnat University, IIT-RAM, GNLU, Gujarat Forensic

Science University, Gujarat University, PDPU, Gujarat Arts & Science College, LD

Engineering, SAL Institute participated.

Regional


96

4. Government approved Grant-in-Aid of Rs 2.6 cr to J&K Pollution Control Board Environment and Forests Ministry approved

the release of Grant-in-Aid of 2.6 crore rupees

to J&K Pollution Control Board. Under this

scheme, the JK PCB shall provide financial

assistance to 3742 number of Eco Clubs of

registered schools in both the regions of J&K

along with 96 Eco-Clubs for registered

Colleges.

The environment education, awareness and

Training scheme of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for National

Green Corps (Eco-Clubs) which was closed for over a decade has been revived for J&K.

5. Gujarat received Rs. 24,012-cr FDI during first half of FY 2019-20 Department for Promotion of Industry and

Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Union

Ministry of Commerce and Industry released a

report on Foreign Direct Investment. It stated

that Gujarat received Rs. 24,012-crore

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the

first half of FY 2019-20. This is double the

amount of Rs. 12,612-crore FDI received

during the previous FY 2018-19.

734 major industrial estates had been set up in Gujarat as against 2,574 units in India

following the industries friendly policies of the state government. The state earned

recognition as Manufacturing and Auto Sector Hubs.

6. National Green Corps scheme revived in Jammu & Kashmir The National Green Corps scheme, which was

closed for over a decade was revived for

Jammu and Kashmir. Under this scheme, the

PCB would provide financial assistance to

3,742 Eco Clubs of registered schools in both

the regions of the Union Territory along with

96 Eco Clubs of registered colleges.

J&K PCB put efforts for the revival of the

scheme in the State Nodal Agency (SNA) meet

organised by MoEFCC at Kevadia in Gujarat.

Accordingly, the Environment and Forests

Ministry approved the release of Grant-in-Aid of 2.60 crore rupees to J&K PCB.


97

7. Odisha organised 11-day long ‘Dhanu Jatra’ The famous 11-day long ‘Dhanu Jatra’,

considered as the largest open-air theatre of

the world was held at Bargarh in western

Odisha. Dhanu Jatra is the annual drama-

based open-air theatrical performance

celebrated in and around Bargarh city. It is

considered to be the world’s largest open-air

theatrical festival that finds a mention in the

Guinness Book of World Records.

The Jatra is based on the mythological story of Lord Krishna and his demon uncle King

Kansa. Government of India has accorded National Festival status to Dhanu Jatra in

November 2014.

8. Indore continued to top Swachh Survekshan among cities having ten lakhs plus population Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Hardeep Singh Puri announced the results

of Swachh Survekshan League 2020, for first and second Quarters in New Delhi.

10 lakh plus population category

1st

Quarters 2nd Quarters

First Indore Indore

Second Bhopal Rajkot

Third Surat Navi Mumbai

9. Kerala became first state to pass resolution against CAA Kerala became the first state to pass a

resolution against the Citizenship Amendment

Act (CAA) amid widespread protests across

the country. Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayee

Vijayan and Leader of Opposition Ramesh

Chennithala unanimously passed the

resolution.

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 gives

eligibility for Indian citizenship to illegal

migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists,

Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and who

entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The bill does not mention Muslims.

One lakh to 10 lakh population

category

1st Quarters

2nd

Quarters

First Jamshedpur Jamshedpur

Second New Delhi Chandrapur

Third Khargone Khargone


98

10. Uttar Pradesh launched ‘Damini’ helpline service for women UPSRTC (Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport

Corporation) launched 'Damini' helpline

service considering the safety of the women

passengers. It is launched under ‘Nirbhaya

Yojana’. A unique number “81142-77777” has

been subscribed for this helpline where

women passengers can lodge their complaints

by calling the helpline number and by using

WhatsApp service.

Helpline number “81142-77777 will be

functional from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day and will be exclusively handled by women

officers at the UPSRTC headquarters and regional offices.

11. Andhra Pradesh state appointed two ‘Disha Special Officers’ Andhra Pradesh government-appointed

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official Dr

Kritika Shukla and Indian Police Service (IPS)

official M Deepika as Disha Special officers.

Appointment order issued by the Chief

Secretary Nilam Sawhney is done under the

provisions of Disha Bill (AP Criminal Law

(Amendment) Bill 2019).

The Act is intended for speedy trial and faster

execution in cases of sexual offences against women in the state and set up of exclusive

special courts in all the 13 districts to deal with cases of offences against women and

children.

12. Gujarat to set up Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Center in state Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has

announced the setting up of the Vikram

Sarabhai Children Innovation Center (VSCIC)

to identify, nurture and promote children’s

innovation in the state. He was speaking

during the felicitation ceremony of Children’s

Innovation Festival (CIF).

Children’s Innovation Festival - CIF has been

organised by Gujarat University Start-ups and

Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC) - an incubation centre set up by Gujarat University in

partnership with UNICEF. CIF initiative was conceptualised to identify, nurture and

support children’s innovations in the state.


99

13. Logo of first ever JK Global Investors Summit unveiled Commissioner Secretary, Industries and

Commerce, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, unveiled

the logo of first-ever JK Global Investors

Summit with the tagline 'Explore, Invest,

Grow' at Udhyog Bhawan, Jammu. The logo

depicts a mix of manufacturing and service

sectors of J&K as well as manpower skills,

agro and horticulture potential.

The Summit is scheduled to be held in April 2020 with the event focusing on driving

investment in potential sectors like Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Processing, Film

Industry, Tourism, handicrafts and healthcare from leading national and global

companies in order to boost economy and trade as well as employment opportunities of

J&K.

14. HP Assembly ratifies bill to extend quota for SCs, STs The Himachal Pradesh Assembly in its special

one-day session ratified the bill that extends

reservation for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha

and state assemblies by another 10 years.

The Constitution (126th) Amendment Bill had

already been passed by Lok Sabha and Rajya

Sabha. It was sent to states for ratification as

it requires the consent of at least 50% of the

state assemblies before implementation.

The quota was included for 70 years since the enactment of the Constitution on January

26, 1950.

15. 31st International Kite Festival launched in Ahmedabad The 31st International Kite Festival was

launched at Sabarmati river front in

Ahmedabad. It was held till 14th January-

Makarsankranti - the festival of Kites. The

festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister

Vijay Rupani.

More than 140 kite flying experts from 40

countries participated in the event. About 800

kite fliers from Gujarat and 200 kite fliers

from 12 other states also participated in this

unique festival.


100

16. Kolkata Police started third edition of 'Sukanya' project Kolkata Police started the third edition of its 'Sukanya'

project to provide girls studying in schools and colleges

in the city with self-defence training. It was the third

such batch.

Sukanya is an initiative of the Kolkata Police's

Community Policing Wing to provide self-defence

training to girl students of city-based schools, colleges

and universities. The initiative is funded by Women

and Child Development and Social Welfare Department

of the state government.

17. Mizoram government organised Zo Kutpui festival The Mizoram government organised Zo Kutpui

festival in 10 states across India and countries

such as US, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The

first edition of the festival started in

Vanghmun in Tripura.

The festival aimed at re-unifying and

strengthening brotherhood among different

tribes of Mizo living in different parts of the

world. The festival witnessed various cultural

programmes by different Mizo tribes, besides performance by various artistes belonging

to Zo ethnic tribes of Mizoram and the Northeast.

18. Tamil Nadu celebrated famous chariot festival of Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple The famous chariot festival of the Suchindram

Thanumalayan Temple, the southern most major

temple in Tamilnadu, was held with great

camaraderie and devotion. The ten-day annual

festival is held in the Tamil month falling in

December - January.

This 17th-century temple is famous for its

architectural grandeur. The seven-storey white

gopuram entrance tower is visible from the

distance. Its 40 m facade is covered with sculptures of Hindu deities. The temple is

especially significant because it is sacred to both the Shaivite as well as Vashnavite

sects.


101

19. Jharkhand Assembly passed Rs 4,185 Cr supplementary budget Assembly Session of Jharkhand passed a

supplementary budget of Rs. 4,185 crores. Rural

Development department received the highest

share of the supplementary budget followed by

Women and Child Development department and

Home and Disaster Management department.

The budget was committed towards effective

implementation of the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act

(CNT Act) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPT

Act) across the state.

20. J&K registered highest IPD care in the country National Health Systems Resource Centre

(NHSRC) report unveiled that Jammu and

Kashmir has registered the highest Inpatient

Department, IPD care in the country. In 2016,

Jammu and Kashmir had surpassed Kerala as

the state with the highest life expectancy in

India for all ages, barring life expectancy at

birth.

Key findings-

-Overall all women in J&K are availing Antenatal Care (ANC) services.

-96% IPD care in rural areas of J&K is provided by Public Health Facilities.

-This facility is highest against the country’s average of 85%.

21. Himachal Pradesh launched “Himachal MyGov” portal & “CM App” The Himachal Pradesh Government has

launched Himachal MyGov portal with a view

to strengthen public participation in the

governance process. The portal will help

people of the state to communicate their

views, suggestions, feedback as well

discontentment, if any. Through this App,

people of the state would be able to write

directly to the Chief Minister regarding their

grievances.

MyGov is an innovative platform to build a partnership between citizens and government

with the help of technology for growth and development of India. This unique platform

aims to enhance citizen partnership with the State Government and vice-versa.


102

22. 4th ‘Buxa Bird Festival’ kicks off in West Bengal The 4th edition of 'Buxa Bird Festival' was

held in Buxa National Park in West Bengal's,

district Alipurduar. Over 50 birdwatchers

from across the country and abroad

participated in the festival. Visitors witnessed

more than 300 rare species including the

Great Hornbill, Sultan Tit and Greater

Spotted Eagle during festival.

Bird enthusiasts visited and clicked

photographs of the migratory birds that come

from colder regions in the northern hemisphere.

23. Maharashtra state organised “Advantage Maharashtra expo 2020” Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray

inaugurated "Advantage Maharashtra expo

2020" in Aurangabad. The exhibition

organised by the Marathwada Association of

Small Scale Industries and Agriculture,

displayed the growth of Marathwada industries

in technology and innovation and the products

produced and exported from the region.

The exhibition was organised with an aim to

provide an opportunity for businesses and serve the platform for small entrepreneurs. It

was announced in the exhibition that a food processing industry park will be set up in

Bidkin (Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor) on 500-acre land.

24. Amma Vodi scheme launched in Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan

Reddy launched “Amma Vodi scheme” for

mothers. The scheme will be implemented

from 26th of January 2020 (Republic day).

Amma Vodi scheme will support lakhs of poor

and needy mothers to educate their children.

-43 lakh mothers received Rs 15,000 each

annual financial assistance for the benefit of

82 lakh children.

-Total Rs 6,318 crore was released for

scheme.

-Amma Vodi scheme is a first of its kind government sector plan to bring about historical

changes in the education system of the state.


103

25. AP-Germany signed MoU on Zero Budget Natural Farming Andhra Pradesh Government signed MoU with

a German firm to implement Zero Budget

Natural Farming. Andhra Pradesh state will

spend Rs 1,015 crore on the climate-resilient,

Zero Budget Natural Farming project.

Out of 1,015 crore, state government has

taken finance of Rs 711 crores. Rs 304 crore

is spent by Andhra Pradesh government on

the project, which is aimed to cover 2.39 lakh

farmers in around 600 village panchayats and

promote natural farming. The state government has assured to the farmers that the

government will pay compensation to them in case of any loss.

26. The Pulses Conclave 2020 was held in Maharashtra 'The Pulses Conclave', the biennial global pulses

conference, was held in Maharashtra. The key

pulses exporting countries like the USA, Australia,

Canada, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania,

Mozambique, Malawi, etc. participated in the

conclave. Conclave discussed increasing domestic

production and consumption, trade like improving

processing efficiencies, increasing consumption,

exports, value addition, protein extraction, post-

harvest crop management, etc.

The conclave will help Indian pulses trade to contribute in making India a $ 5 trillion

economies through retail sale of pulses, processed pulses, pulse derivates, and value

additions.

27. Fresh investment proposals worth Rs 6,608 cr approved in Tamil Nadu The Tamil Nadu state government has approved

fresh investment proposals worth 6608 crore

rupees. They have been cleared by the higher-

level committee on industrial guidance and

single window system, led by the state Chief

Minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy.

The committee has given nod to fifteen new

investments, with the potential of generating

6763 direct employment. Many of the industries

are coming up in districts like Tuticorin, Trichy,

Perambalur, Krishnagiri and Vellore, besides the traditional industrial hubs of Chennai’s

adjoining districts of Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur.


104

28. Lucknow, NOIDA to have Police Commissioners under Commissionerate system The Uttar Pradesh state government cabinet

has approved the Police Commissionerate

system proposal in Lucknow and Noida cities.

The police commissionerate system, when

implemented, will leave the district

magistrates with only revenue related work

and all decisions regarding law and order will

be taken by the police commissioners.

ADG level police officer will be posted as Police

Commissioner. A woman police officer of SP rank will also be appointed for the security

of women in the city.

29. IIFPT Bathinda signed MoU with 8 different reputed Institutes of India The Indian Institute of Food Processing

Technology (IIFPT), Liaison Office, Bathinda

signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

with 8 different reputed institutes of the

region in the states of Punjab and Haryana.

The MoU are intended to facilitate a

collaborative programme of research, skill

development, consultancy, institutional

development, information dissemination and

student’s in-plant training.

The 8 Institutes are:

Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University (MRSPTU), Bathinda

Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engg. & Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana

National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal

Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research (IIWBR), Karnal

Sant Longowal Institute of Engg. & Tech. (SLIET), Sangrur

National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali

Guru Nanak College, Budhlada

30. Smriti Irani launched 3 welfare schemes in Goa Union minister for women and child

development, Smriti Irani launched 3 welfare

schemes for women in Goa. The schemes

are Yashaswini Scheme for Women

Entrepreneurship, Swasthya Sahayak Project

and breast cancer screening handheld device

facilitating detection of cancer.

Under Yashaswini scheme, women self-help

groups will be given interest free loans of up to Rs. Five lakh for business. Under the

Swasthya Sahayak scheme, primary healthcare workers and Anganwadi workers will be

given a diagnostic kit, to improve maternal and child health at the primary level.


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31. National Youth Festival 2020 held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh On the birth anniversary of Swami

Vivekananda, 23rd National Youth Festival

2020 was organised in Lucknow, Uttar

Pradesh. The theme of the 23rd National

Youth Festival 2020 was FIT YOUTH FIT

INDIA. Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports

and the State Government of Uttar Pradesh

jointly organised the festival. Youths from all

over the country gathered and showcased

their talent in different competitions.

The government has been organising NYF since 1995 with an objective to provide a

platform to the youth of the country and provide them with an opportunity to showcase

their talents in various activities.

32. Ladakh hosted first ever Food Processing Summit to attract investors Union Territory Ladakh hosted the first ever

Food Processing Summit to attract investors

to the region. Ladakh region has vast scope

for investment in food Processing industries in

horticulture products like Apricot,

SeabuckThorn, Apple and agricultural produce

like buckwheat and barley. Ministry of

Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of

Food Processing Industries, the UT

Administration of Ladakh organised the

Summit.

Over hundred entrepreneurs from Leh and Kargil participated in the Summit. The event

was aimed at encouraging the entrepreneurs to begin a StartUp to tap the potential in

the Food Processing Industries in Ladakh.

33. First edition of Krishi Manthan held in Ahmedabad The first edition of Krishi Manthan - the

largest Food, Agri-business and Rural

Development Summit of Asia was organised in

Gujarat by Indian Institute of Management,

Ahmedabad. More than 1,500 delegates

including students and academicians

participated in the two-day event organised by

the Food and Agribusiness Committee of IIMA.

The students along with working professionals

from Food, Agriculture and allied sectors were benefited from the workshops during this

summit. Eminent speakers like the founder of Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, NIF and

GIAN Padma Prof. Anil Gupta attended the summit.


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34. MoU signed between NITI Aayog and Union Territory of Ladakh for infrastructure projects In an initiative to promote the development

of infrastructure sectors in the newly

constituted Union Territory of Ladakh, NITI

Aayog entered into a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) with the UT’s

administration. Under this MoU, NITI Aayog

will be supporting the UT’s administration

through its key initiative ‘Development

Support Services to States for Infrastructure

Projects (D3S-i)’.

The partnership lays thrust on the identification of priority projects, expedited project

implementation and creating unique models of development for the Union Territory of

Ladakh. NITI Aayog has committed to assist the UT’s administration in creating a

strategic plan for identifying prioritised infrastructure projects.

35. World Bank and Government of India signed $88 million loan agreement Assam and the World Bank signed a loan

agreement of $88 million to help modernise

Assam’s passenger ferry sector that runs on

its rivers like Brahmaputra. The project will

support the Government of Assam’s efforts to

corporatise its own ferry activities. The Assam

Shipping Company (ASC) will operate the

government ferries and the Assam Ports

Company (APC) will provide terminals and

terminal services on a common-user basis to

both public and private ferry operators.

The Assam Inland Water Transport Project (AIWTP) will help Assam improve the

passenger ferry infrastructure and its services.

36. Arunachal Pradesh signed a MoU with IUCN Arunachal Pradesh signed a memorandum of

understanding (MoU) with International Union

for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) to red-

listing of orchids. With this, it became the first

State in the country to initiate MoU with IUCN.

As per the MoU, the State Government will

collaborate with the IUCN to prepare the

IUCN’s Red List Assessment for all orchids in

the State.

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is a critical indicator of the health and

conservation status of the world’s biological species.


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37. IIM-Indore signed MoU with TikTok The Indian Institute of Management, Indore

signed a MoU with the video sharing platform

"TikTok" for the production of short video

modules for students and trained

professionals. IIM students can get their

lessons on communication, strategy,

negotiation, marketing, etc. on TikTok videos.

These ‘tik-tok’ video modules will be

implemented by Indian Institute of

Management, Indore in its different courses.

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based

company founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.

38. India's first e-waste clinic opened in Bhopal India’s first e-waste clinic was opened in

Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. It would enable

segregation, processing and disposal of

waste from both household and commercial

units. The e-waste clinic is jointly set up by

the Central Pollution Control Board-CPCB and

Bhopal Municipal Corporation-BMC.

The e-waste clinic is being started on the

basis of a three-month pilot project. The

CPCB will provide technical support to the

clinic. The clinic has been prepared in junk

low floor bus.

39. UP Government launched Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan Yojana Uttar Pradesh Government has launched

Mukhyamantri Krishak Durghatna Kalyan

Yojana which will provide financial assistance

to family of farmers who die or become

handicapped while working in fields. The

victims will receive financial assistance of five

lakh rupees.

For the first time, the scheme will also include

the Bataidars, who work in the field of other

persons and share the crop after it is

harvested. The scheme will cover farmers and

their family members in the age group of 18-

70 years and will be implemented from 14th

September, 2019.


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40. UP Government launched Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana Uttar Pradesh Government has launched

Mukhyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana

to boost tourism in state. The government will

develop one tourist point with a fund of 50

lakh rupees in each and every assembly

segment of the state.

The Uttar Pradesh tourism department has set

the target to make the state the most

preferred tourism destination by the year

2023, and increase the domestic tourist arrivals by 15% and foreign tourist arrivals by

10%.

41. 16th edition of Mumbai International Film Festival The 16th edition of Mumbai International Film

Festival started on 28th January at Nehru

Centre Auditorium with a bouquet of over 76

films competing in national and international

sections. MIFF will conclude on 3rd of February

2020.

Films Division of the festival has launched a

mobile app, which will provide movie buffs all

the information about the festival. The app will

also enable delegates to vote for their favourite

movie.

42. Uttarakhand became 1st state to implement agricultural land leasing policy Uttarakhand became the first state in the

country where the government has made a

policy to lease agricultural land. With this

initiative by state, a farmer can get the rent

for the land leased by him for 30 years. The

upper limit has been set of 30 acres of land

on lease for 30 years, providing a provision

to take more land in special circumstances.

The state government has made this policy

in the wake of obstacles faced in the consolidation of land, especially in hilly areas.


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43. IIM Indore to provide ‘mob management & communication’ training to UP Police UP police had joined hands and signed MoU

with IIM-Indore to strengthen beat policing,

develop tools for better law enforcement,

traffic management, improve the efficiency of

police personnel while reducing stress.

The Indian Institute of Management Indore in

Madhya Pradesh will guide and provide

training to Uttar Pradesh Police personnel on

crowd management and effective

communication. It will also provide training in the data analysis, traffic management, use

of artificial intelligence & social media management.

44. Andhra Pradesh assembly passed resolution to abolish State Legislative Council The Andhra Pradesh Assembly has

unanimously passed a resolution to abolish

the State Legislative Council. The move

comes after the main Opposition Telugu

Desam Party (TDP) sent two bills related to

the decentralisation of Andhra Pradesh’s

capital to a select committee.

The one-line resolution to abolish the state

council was passed in the assembly by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan

Reddy. The resolution was passed with 133 members voting in favour of it. This was

announced by assembly speaker Tammineni Seetharam.

45. West Bengal becomes highest vegetable producing state

According to a horticulture production data of

the central government, West Bengal has

emerged as the top state in India in

vegetable production in 2018-19. The state

produced 29.55 million tonne (MT) of

vegetables during 2018-19. Uttar Pradesh

with 27.71 million tonne of vegetable

production was second in the list.

West Bengal has accounted for 15.9% of the

country's total vegetable production. UP

produced 14.9% while Madhya Pradesh had 9.6% followed by Bihar at 9%. Andhra

Pradesh topped the list of fruits production with 17.61 mt, followed by Maharashtra

(10.82 mt) and Uttar Pradesh (10.65 mt).


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46. ‘Innovation Festival’ celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh

Two days long Innovation Festival 2020 was

organised in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh.

The festival was organised by the Arunachal

Pradesh State Council for Science &

Technology in collaboration with the

National Innovation Foundation.

The Innovation Festival, a first of its kind in

the state, aimed to foster the culture of

innovation among all people of the state,

especially in all the educational institutions. Shri Ha Tade won the award for innovation

for Vehicle Data Recording.

47. India’s first Super Fab Lab inaugurated by Kerala CM Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan

inaugurated India’s 1st Super Fab Lab in

Kochi, Kerala. The Super Fab Lab installed in

collaboration with KSUM (Kerala Startup

Mission), will allow the state to produce

machines locally and will give India's

hardware industry a giant leap.

The Super Fab Lab, spread across an area of

10,000 sqft. and inaugurated at the Integrated Startup Complex(ISC) of the Kerala

Startup Mission (KSUM) is the only such facility outside of the US.

48. Shiv Bhojan Scheme launched by Maharashtra Government The state government of Maharashtra

launched the 'Shiv Bhojan' scheme on a

pilot basis, on the occasion of the 71st

Republic Day. Under the pilot scheme, at

least one 'Shiv Bhojan' canteen has been

started at district headquarters for

providing a meal to the poor for just Rs

10.

Under this initiative, about 18,000 thalis

will be distributed every day through 125 centres. The scheme has been implemented at

various hospitals such as Sir King Edward Memorial Hospital in Parel, LokmanyaTilak

Municipal General Hospital in Sion, VN Desai Hospital in Santacruz etc.


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49. India’s first underwater metro to begin in March 2022 in Kolkata India's first underwater metro train which is

being constructed in Kolkata is set to begin

operations in March 2022. The underwater

metro train constructed by the Kolkata Metro

Rail Corporation (KMRC), will pass partly

under the iconic Hooghly river, connecting

the twin cities Kolkata and Howrah.

Around 9,00,000 people will be travelling by

this new line daily, covering 16.6 km route

with six stations. The project is built at cost of Rs 8,600 crore.


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1. India ranked 34th in Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index According to a report published by WEF, India

has moved up six places to 34th rank on world

travel and tourism competitiveness index. The

improvement was driven by rich natural and

cultural resources and strong price

competitiveness.

The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index

(TTCI) covered 140 economies. Spain topped

the list followed by France, Germany, Japan

and USA in the top five. Pakistan (121st)

remains the least competitive country in South Asia when it comes to T&T.

2. World Bank Study: Effect of Automation on FDI flows According to a World Bank study on the effect

of automation on FDI, automation will disrupt

the flow of capital from rich to poorer

countries but the poorest countries could

actually gain from automation. Mary Hallward-

Driemeier and Gaurav Nayyar use data sets

on greenfield foreign direct investments (FDI)

and industrial robot usage between 2004 and

2015 to investigate the relationship between

automation and FDI flows.

The study finds that as automation increases, FDI flows from high-income countries

(HICs) to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) fall. For a 10% increase of

automation in a HIC, the flow of FDIs into LMIC increased by 5.5%.

3. IMD reports 2019 as the 7th warmest year since 1901 According to the India Meteorological

Department (IMD), 2019 was recorded as the

seventh warmest year since 1901, but the

heating was substantially lower than the

highest warming observed in 2016. 1,562

people died due to extreme weather events in

2019.

The five warmest years on record are 2016

(0.71 degree Celsius), 2009 (0.541 degree

Celsius), 2017 (0.539 degree Celsius), 2010

(0.54 degree Celsius) and 2015 (0.42 degree Celsius). The IMD said 11 out of 15

warmest years were during the recent past fifteen years (2005-2019).

Reports


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4. ICMR released report on Sugar Intake of India The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

released its report on sugar intake of India.

The report was released based on a joint

survey conducted by ICMR, NIN (National

Institute of Nutrition), Hyderabad and ILSI

(International Life Science Institute of India).

According to the report, intake of added sugar

in metro cities was 19.5 grams per day. Sugar

intake was the highest in Mumbai at 26.3

g/day. The level recommended by ICMR is 30

grams per day.

5. India listed as 5th biggest Geo-Political Risk of 2020 India has been listed as the fifth biggest geo-

political risk of 2020 by the political risk

consultancy ‘Eurasia's annual 'Top 10 Risks' of

the year list. The list was topped by elections

in the U.S. the report unveiled that Indian

government has adopted a “contentious”

social agenda, which not only comes “at the

cost” of India’s economy, but also “challenges

the secular and democratic foundations” of the

republic.

Eurasia’s annual ‘Top 10 Risks’ of 2020 list is considered one of the foremost geopolitical

indicators among global investors, multinational firms and various financial and business

consultancies.

6. Indian passport ranked 84th in Henley Passport Index 2020 According to the Henley Passport Index 2020,

Indian passport has ranked 84th in the list

while Japan’s passport ranked 1st in the

index. India's ranking fell from a decade-high

ranking of 74 to a low of 84 in 2020.

Japan is followed by Singapore, Germany,

South Korea, Italy in the top five.

Afghanistan's passport is the world's worst

passport while Pakistan's is the fourth worst.

The report is based on the data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).


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7. Shopper Malware affected 14% Indians Global cybersecurity and anti-virus brand

Kaspersky revealed that a new Trojan

malware application called 'Shopper' has

infected more than 14.23% Indian users.

Russia was highest affected with 28.46%

followed by Brazil at 18.70% and India at

14.23%. The malicious app spreads

unsolicited ads, fake reviews and ratings

issued in the name of the victim.

According to a report by the Data Security

Council of India (DSCI), India ranks second in the list of countries affected the most by

cyberattacks between 2016 and 2018.

8. Report unveiled that STEM jobs raising in India One of the job sites, ‘Indeed’ unveiled in its

report that jobs related to Science,

Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

have increased by 44% between November

2016 and November 2019.

Key findings

-The leading sectors hiring STEM talent

include information technology, banking and

financial services.

-In 2016, India produced the maximum graduates worldwide with 78 million of which 2.6

million were from STEM.

-Delhi led the way for STEM jobs with 31% of overall postings followed by Mumbai,

Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

-Roles in demand are software engineer, php developer, .net developer, android

developer and full-stack developer.

9. “The Global Risks Report 2020” released by World Economic Forum The 15th edition of the World Economic

Forum's Global Risks Report was published

about the major risks; the world is going to

face in the coming years. The report

forecasts a year of increased domestic and

international divisions and economic

slowdown.

For the first time in the survey’s 10-year

outlook, the top five global risks in terms of

likelihood are all environmental. The report

sounds the alarm on extreme weather events, failure of climate-change mitigation,

major biodiversity loss and major natural disasters.


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10. Economist Intelligence Unit released Democracy Index 2019 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the

12th edition of the “Democracy Index 2019: A

year of democratic setbacks and popular

protest”. The index was topped by Norway

followed by Iceland, Sweden, New Zealand

and Finland. The average global score slipped

from 5.48 in 2018, to 5.44. North Korea was

placed at bottom-most in the index.

India slipped 10 places to 51st position in the

2019 Democracy index. The Democracy Index

2019 measures the state of democracy in 167 countries by 60 indicators across five

broad categories.

11. Jharkhand’s Jharia most polluted city in India Greenpeace India's fourth Airpocalypse

report unveiled that coal-belching town of

Jharia in Jharkhand is the most polluted city

in India.

Key Findings of report

-Six of India's 10 most polluted cities are in

Uttar Pradesh.

-Delhi is the 10th-most polluted city in

India.

-Jharkhand's Dhanbad is the second-most polluted city in India.

-Lunglei in Mizoram is the least polluted.

-Lunglei is also the only Indian city with PM levels under the World Health Organisation’s

(WHO) prescribed level of 20/ug/m3.

12. RBI placed at 6th position in buying gold abroad in World Gold Council report “World Gold Outlook 2020” report released

by World Gold Council placed India’s

central bank Reserve Bank of India at 6th

position in the largest buyer of sovereign

gold abroad.

Key Findings

-RBI holds 625.2 tonnes of gold, forming

6.6 per cent of its forex reserves.

-RBI bought 25.2 tonnes in first 10 months of 2019 to hedge government’s sovereign

gold bond issue.

-The central banks of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Poland bought more than India

in 2019.

-Institutional investors in exchange traded funds reported to be the second biggest

buyers of gold in 2019.


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13. Global Social Mobility Index 2020 The 1st edition of Global Social Mobility

Report 2020 titled “The Global Social

Mobility Report 2020: Equality, Opportunity

and a New Economic Imperative” was

released by World Economic Forum. Index

was topped by Denmark followed by

Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and

Netherlands in top six list. India ranked has

76th position with a score of 42.7.

The World Economic Forum created a new

index to measure social mobility, providing a much-needed assessment of the current

state of social mobility worldwide. The Global Social Mobility Index benchmarks 82 global

economies.

14. CDP India Annual Report 2019” released by Carbon Disclosure Project CDP India Annual Report 2019” was released

by CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), a not-

for-profit charity running the global

disclosure system for investors, companies

to manage their environmental impacts.

India was placed at 5th among the countries

surveyed for corporate commitments to science-based targets.

Key Findings

-The report surveyed a total of 6900 companies across the globe.

-U.S.A topped the list with 135 SBT companies.

-Japan, U.K. and France were placed among top 4.

-Investors checked for environmental activity from Indian companies before investing in

an organisation.

15. International Labour Organisation released “The World Employment and Social Outlook” International Labour Organisation (ILO)

released the World Employment and Social

Outlook report. This report provides an

overview of global and regional trends in

employment, unemployment, labour force

participation and productivity.

Highlights

-Count of people unemployed around the

world stands at 188 million.

-India became founder member of the International Labour Organisation.

-The rise in trade restrictions have a significant impact on employment.

-165 million people don’t have enough paid work.

-120 million have either given up actively searching for work or otherwise lack access to

the labour market.


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16. Report on Central and State Water Departments based on Efficiency Targets released The Ministry of Jal Shakti launched rankings of

Central and state governmental water

departments based on their efficiency targets.

Gujarat was found to be the most water-

efficient state in India on efficiency targets in

the review of state and Central government

water departments.

Highlights

-Rajasthan emerged as the third most water-efficient state.

-Tamil Nadu significantly improved its ranking from 33 in 2018 to 13th in 2019.

-Delhi was found to be worst performing state.

-Among seven central departments, Survey of India was found to be the most water-

efficient.

-Central Pollution Control Board was found to be least water efficient.


118

1. Irfan Pathan announced retirement from all forms of Cricket Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan announced his

retirement from all forms of Cricket. He

played 29 Tests, 120 ODIs and 24 T20Is. He

was part of the victorious Indian team at the

2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-

the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the

tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the

second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a

Test hat-trick. He also played a big role in

India winning a Test match against Australia

on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

2. World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi from Italy retired from football Veteran former Italy international Daniele De

Rossi announced his retirement from football,

just six months after joining Argentine giants

Boca Juniors. He has played 117 games for

Italy from 2004-17 and won the World Cup in

2006.

Rossi is popularly known for his time playing

with his hometown club Roma in Serie A. With

616 appearances for Roma in all competitions,

he is the club's second-most capped player of

all time. De Rossi is Italy's top scorer in the Confederations Cup, with two goals.

3. Ukraine PM Oleksiy Honcharuk resigned Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk of

Ukraine tendered his resignation to

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy after less

than six months in the role. An alleged

recording emerged earlier this week where

Honcharuk questioned Zelenskiy's ability to

manage the economy and the Prime

Minister felt this would undermine his

position.

The former lawyer and deputy head of the

Prime Minister's office became Ukraine's youngest-ever head of government at the age

of 35 when he took on the role in August 2019.

Resignations & Retirements


119

4. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev submitted resignation The entire Federal Government in Russia

including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev

has resigned after President Vladimir Putin

announced that a range of constitutional

changes are needed. President Putin

proposed a referendum on amending

Russia's constitution to increase the powers

of parliament, while maintaining a strong

presidential system.

President Putin has nominated Medvedev to

become deputy head of the National Security

Council. President Putin proposed the head of Russia's tax service Mikhail Mishustin for

the post of prime minister.

5. Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec resigned Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec

submitted resignation to President Borut Pahor

and called for fresh elections. The governing

coalition of five centre-left parties held only 43

out of 90 seats in parliament. After losing the

informal support of the opposition Left Party, it

had found it increasingly difficult to get bills

through parliament.

Mr Sarec is Slovenia's youngest-ever Prime

Minister. He was previously best known as a

comedian and political satirist before he launched himself as an anti-establishment

politician.


120

1. ISRO will set up launch port for small satellite launch vehicles Indian Space Research Organisation announced

to establish a second launch port in Thoothukodi

district in Tamilnadu exclusively to launch small

satellite launch vehicles. On the lines of GPS

navigation system developed by America, the

Indian navigation system called Navic with the

indigenous atomic clock will be operational with

mobile phone manufacturers coming forward to

install the regional navigation device.

Chandrayaan 3 mission to the moon, comprising of a lander and a rover is approved by

the Government. The Gaganyaan mission is targeted to be launched by 2022.

2. ISRO inked pact to set up optical Telescope Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

and Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA)

inked pact for co-operation in the field of

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and

Astrophysics. MOU is signed as part of ISROs

initiatives to utilise the efforts of Indian

Academic Institutions in the space technology.

MoU will pave the way for future

collaborations between ISRO and IIA in

establishing optical telescope facilities under

NETRA Project for space object tracking, studies related to space weather, Asteroids, and

other Near Earth Objects (NEO). Collaboration between ISRO and IIA will help in

progressing various fields of Astrophysics and Astronomy as well.

3. DRDO Science Expo launched I-Stem portal at the Indian Science congress Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched

I-STEM portal at the 107th edition of the

Indian Science Congress. Indian Science

Technology and Engineering Facilities Map (I-

STEM) portal will hold the database of all the

R&D facilities established in institutions

around the country, and enable their sharing

in a transparent manner. The IP protected

Portal has been built by, and is managed by,

Nanoscience Centre of Indian Institute of

Science, Bengaluru.

More than 17,000 equipments located at about 427 institutions across India have been

listed on I-STEM. The Portal will provide comprehensive data on sharing of facilities.

Science & Technology


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4. Astronomers spot distant galaxy group An international team of astronomers has

found the farthest galaxy group identified to

date, called EGS77. The galaxy shows the

specific wavelengths of far-ultraviolet light

revealed by reionisation. This emission, called

Lyman alpha light, is prominent in all

members of EGS77.

The EGS77, the trio of galaxies dates to a

time when the universe was only 680 million

years old, or less than 5% of its current age of

13.8 billion years.

5. Women Science Congress held in Bengaluru The Women Science Congress was held in

Bengaluru at the ongoing Indian Science

Congress. DRDO Aeronautical Systems

Director General Dr. Tessy Thomas who is

known as Missile Woman of India was the

Chief Guest of the occasion.

The women’s science congress aims to provide

a single platform for women working in

different arena of science and technology to

showcase their achievements and

experiences. It will also prepare a vision document or a road map for women in science

and technology.

6. ISRO’s astronaut training hub to be established in Challakere, Karnataka The Indian Space Research Organisation has

finalised Karnataka’s Challakere as the

location for its first Human Space Flight

Infrastructure Centre (HSFIC). The proposed

budget is Rs 2,700 crore and it is expected to

be functional in next three years.

Various activities related to the training of

astronauts to manned missions will be

conducted at the centre. At present, the four selected astronauts to embark in India’s

first manned spaceflight mission Gaganyaan are undergoing training in Russia.


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7. ISRO to Launch IDRSS Satellites to help Gaganyaan Mission The Indian Space Research Organisation

(ISRO) has announced to launch its own

satellite pair for space communication

purposes, called Indian Data Relay Satellite

System (IDRSS). IDRSS will be pivotal in

maintaining communication with the astronaut

crew and ground mission control at any given

phase, during manned space missions.

India is set to embark upon its first ever

manned space mission with Gaganyaan in 2022. The first of the two satellites will be

launched into Low-Earth orbit by the end of 2020, while second satellite will be launched

in 2021.

8. Indian Pompano Fish Cultivation-First Scientific Experiment Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute

(CMFRI) scientists developed viable scientific

method to cultivate Indian Pompano fish in

ponds. Pompanos are marine fishes. Scientists

had started scientific study in 2014 on

cultivation of fishes. Scientists recorded

experiment of 750 grams of meat per fish in

open ponds and 1 kg in cages. CMFRI’s new

invention of cultivation in ponds recorded 95%

of the survival of the fishes.

The funding provided by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), registered 3

tons per acre yield and a profit of 25% to 30% of input cost per acre.

9. LIGO: Second Merger of Neutron Stars detected The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave

Observatory (LIGO) has spotted two ultra-

dense stellar remnants known as neutron

stars violently crashing together for a second

time. The neutron stars each fitting roughly

the mass of the Sun into a city-sized space

have a combined mass greater than any other

pair of neutron stars ever observed.

After the collision of these two particularly

hefty neutron stars, the final merged product collapsed into a black hole, gobbling up

any stray matter and light located nearby. The first gravitational-wave detection of

merging neutron stars, called GW170817 was detected in 2017.


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10. GSAT-30 satellite launched from French Guiana GSAT-30, a communication satellite of India,

was launched onboard Ariane-5 launch vehicle

(VA 251) from French Guiana. Weighing 3,357

kg, GSAT-30 is to serve as replacement to

INSAT-4A spacecraft services with enhanced

coverage. The satellite provides Indian

mainland and islands coverage in Ku-band. It

also provides extended coverage in C-band.

GSAT-30 will be extensively used for

supporting VSAT networks, Television up-linking and Teleport services, Digital Services

News Gathering (DSNG), DTH-Television services, cellular backhaul connectivity and

many such applications.

11. Oldest ever mushroom fossil discovered The world's oldest mushroom has been

discovered in the Democratic Republic of Congo

and dates back to around 810 million years ago.

The oldest confirmed mushroom fossil until now

was dated to 460 million years ago.

In the current study, published in the journal

Science Advances, researchers found fossilised

remains of microscopic mushroom parts called

mycelium in rocks whose age is between 715 and

810 million years.

12. ISRO successfully completed three orbit raising manoeuvres of GSAT-30 ISRO has successfully completed the three

orbit-raising manoeuvres of communication

satellite GSAT-30 and succeeded in placing

it in an orbit close to its operational orbit.

The satellite was launched on January 17

onboard Ariane 5 rocket from French

Guiana.

The cumulative duration of operation of the

propulsion system for these manuoeuvres

was 2 hours 29 minutes. The satellite is

placed in an orbit with a perigee of 35, 826

km and an apogee of 35,913 km with an

inclination of 0.11 deg which is very close to its operational orbit.


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13. ISRO unveiled ‘Vyommitra’ a half-humanoid robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission ISRO unveiled ‘Vyommitra’ a half-humanoid

robot for Gaganyaan Space Mission. Indian

Space Research Organisation will send

'Vyommitra', a 'lady robot' in the unmanned

Gaganyaan spacecraft. Vyommitra will

simulate human functions in space, interact

with the environment control life support

system, mimic the activity of a crew of

astronauts in space, recognise them, hold

conversations and answer queries.

ISRO will monitor how the human system will

behave in the environment control life support system. Vyommitra is a half humanoid

since she does not have legs. It can only bend sidewards and forward to carry out

certain experiments.

14. France to train Indian flight surgeons for ISRO’s Gaganyaan mission The Indian flight surgeons will be trained by

France to enable them to check the health of

astronauts selected for the human space

mission Gaganyaan. Training will be of 2

weeks for Gaganyaan project that is aimed at

sending three Indians to space by 2022. The

flight surgeons will be observed by Indian Air

Force doctors specialising in aviation

medicines. Surgeons will take care of health of

astronauts before, during and after the

journey.

Gaganyaan is a fully autonomous 3.7-tonne spacecraft designed to carry a 3-member

crew to orbit and safely return to the Earth.

15. ISRO launched Bhuvan Panchayat V3 web Portal Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)

launched the Bhuvan Panchayat web

portal's version 3.0 for better planning and

monitoring of government projects. The

Portal will function with the help of satellite

technology developed by ISRO and will

enhance network application of gram

panchayats.

The project is meant to provide geo-spatial services to aid gram panchayat development

planning process of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The Bhuvan Panchayat web portal

was launched for visualisation, planning and monitoring of schemes at panchayat levels.


125

1. Government approved IOA's proposal to host Commonwealth shooting in India The government approved in principle the

Indian Olympic Association’s proposal to host

the Commonwealth shooting championships

and archery events which were not part of the

2022 Commonwealth Games roster in March

2022.

IOA had withdrawn its threat to boycott the

Birmingham Commonwealth Games over

shooting’s omission and decided to submit a

formal proposal to host a shooting

championship, where the medals won will be counted in the tally of the 2022 edition.

2. Manav Thakkar became world no.1 in latest International Table Tennis Federation rankings Young Indian paddler Manav Thakkar became

world no.1 in the latest International Table

Tennis Federation (ITTF) rankings in the

Under-21 men's singles category. With this,

Thakkar became the fourth Indian to achieve

the feat after Harmeet Desai, G Sathiyan and

Soumyajit Ghosh.

The 19-year-old Manav Thakkar achieved the

top spot after clinching the Under-21 men's

singles title at the ITTF Challenge Plus Benemax-Virgo North American Open in

Markham, Canada in December 2019.

3. ICC plans to scrap five-day Tests from 2023 Cricket's apex body, the International

Cricket Council, plans to scrap five-day Tests

from 2023. The ICC could make four-day

Tests mandatory from 2023 as part of the

World Test Championship. Tests have been

played over five days through most of their

140-year history.

It could provide a sustainable solution to the

complex scheduling needs and players'

workloads. A four-day test was played between England and Ireland earlier in 2019.

South Africa and Zimbabwe too played one in 2017.

Sports


126

4. MS Dhoni picked captain of ESPNCricinfo's ODI and T20 teams of past decade Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni

was picked as captain of ESPN Cricinfo's ODI

and Twenty20 teams of the decade, while

Virat Kohli was named the leader in Tests.

The criteria, set by the 23-member panel, for

selection was a minimum of 50 Tests or six

active years in the traditional format while it

was 75 ODIs and 100 T20s for the limited-

overs teams. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra

Chahal were the only other Indians to make the Test XI. Rohit Sharma was named in the

ODI XI and Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 XI.

5. 5th IHAI National Ice Hockey Championship 2020 Host Leh-Ladakh won the 5th Ice Hockey

Association of India (IHAI) National Ice

Hockey Championship - 2020 in both Boys

and Girls categories. Ladakh Scouts Regiment

Centre (LSRC) won the bronze medal, in

Under-20 Boys category.

Maharashtra girls stood 3rd in the

championship. The Under-20 boys will be

playing Asia Challenge Cup in Thailand while the girls will play in the Asian Championship

in the Philippines. Ice Hockey Association of India is the governing body of ice hockey in

India.

6. K. Srikkanth & Anjum Chopra to get CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award Former India captain and member of the 1983

World Cup - winning team Krishnamachari

Srikkanth was conferred with this year’s

prestigious CK Nayudu Lifetime Award. Former

India women’s captain Anjum Chopra is the

co-recipient of the lifetime achievement award

for the year 2019.

Srikkanth represented India between 1981

and 1992 and played 43 Tests, scoring 2062

runs with 2 hundreds and 12 half-centuries.

Anjum is considered to be one of India’s finest batswomen before Mithali Raj. She played

12 Tests scoring 548 runs.


127

7. Bhubaneswar to host 1st edition of Khelo India University Games The first edition of Khelo India University

Games is scheduled to be held at the KIIT

University in Bhubaneswar from February

22 to March 1, 2020. Khelo India University

Games will witness over 4,000 athletes

from 100 Universities.

The Khelo India University Games will have

17 different disciplines namely archery,

athletics, boxing, fencing, judo, swimming,

weight-lifting, wrestling, badminton,

basketball, football, hockey, table tennis, tennis, volleyball, rugby and kabaddi.

8. Leo Carter became 7th cricketer to hit six 6s in an over New Zealand’s Leo Carter became the 7th

cricketer in the world to score six sixes in

an over. He achieved this feat during his

team's Canterbury Kings' victory against

Northern Knight at New Zealand's

Twenty20 tournament Super Smash. He

smashed left-arm spinner Anton Devcich.

Gary Sobers of the West Indies, Ravi

Shastri and Yuvraj Singh of India,

Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa, Ross Whiteley of England and Hazratullah Zazai of

Afghanistan have scored six sixes in an over.

9. Jasprit Bumrah to receive Polly Umrigar Award The BCCI has announced that Jasprit

Bumrah will receive the prestigious Polly

Umrigar Award for his super performance in

international cricket in the 2018-19 season.

He is the world's No. 1 ODI bowler and

made his Test debut during India's tour of

South Africa in January 2018.

Bumrah picked up a five-wicket haul in

South Africa, England, Australia and the

West Indies becoming the first and only Asian bowler to achieve the feat. Poonam Yadav

has claimed the top prize in women's section and will be awarded the best international

cricketer.


128

10. India finished 2019 as number one shooting nation in world India finished the year as the top shooting

nation in the world, leaving behind Olympic

heavyweights China and the USA. India

won a total of 21 gold, 6 silver and 3

bronze medals as it topped all the Rifle-

Pistol World Cups and Finals in 2019.

China, with 11 gold, 15 silver and 18

bronze, was second in the list. The USA is

placed third with 6 gold, 6 silver and 3

bronze medals.

11. Malaysia Masters 2020 Japan's Kento Momota won the Malaysia masters

2020 after he defeated Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen

in the Perodua Malaysian Masters final. China’s

world No. 2 Chen Yufei won the women’s singles

against Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying.

South Korea's Kim Gi-jung-Lee and Yong-dae

won the men’s doubles title while China's Du Yue

and Li Yinhui won the women's doubles title.

China’s world No. 1 mixed doubles pair Zheng

Siwei-Huang Yaqiong won the mixed doubles title.

12. Strandja Memorial 2020 Former world silver-winner Sonia Lather (57kg)

and Four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa

(63kg) won bronze medals at the Strandja

Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) won a silver

medal after losing 1-4 to Italy's Francesco

Maietta.

India ended the competition with three medals in all. The tournament features more

than 200 boxers from over 30 countries and is a season-opener in the European boxing

calendar.

13. World Archery lifted suspension on India The World Archery conditionally lifted the suspension

on India. It instructed the Archery Association of India

to make changes in its constitution regarding athlete

membership, resolve governance issues and develop a

strategic plan. It also asked AAI to furnish a quarterly

progress report on these issues.

The AAI had been suspended since August 5, with the

Indian athletes only allowed to compete under a

neutral flag. With the lifting of the ban, Indian archers are now free to compete under

the Indian flag.


129

14. RFI lifts Dattu Bhokanal's ban after IOA's intervention Rowing Federation of India lifted the two-

year suspension of Rower Dattu Bhokanal. He

was charged of tanking a race during the

2018 Asian Games. The ban was lifted after

the intervention of the Indian Olympic

Association.

Bhokanal was one of the Indian quartets that

won gold in the men's quadruple sculls event

in the Asian Games, but later left the single

sculls race midway. He was banned by the Rowing Federation of India in March 2019.

15. Khelo India Youth Games 2020 The Khelo India Youth Games 2020 was

concluded in Guwahati. It was held between

January 16-22, 2020. The defending

champions Maharashtra won the medals tally

with 256 medals, including 78 gold and 77

silver.

Haryana took the second spot on the medals

tally becoming only the second state to win a

total of 200 medals including 68 Golds, 60

Silvers and 72 Bronzes. Delhi was third on the tally for the second time in a row as well

with 122 medals (39 Gold, 36 Silver and 47 Bronze).

16. Indian shooters Divyansh Singh Pawar, Apurvi Chandela Clinch Gold in Meyton Cup Indian shooters Divyansh Singh Pawar and

Apurvi Chandela won a gold medal each in

Meyton Cup in Innsbruck, Austria. While

Divyansh won the gold in the men's 10m air

rifle event, Apurvi bagged the gold metal in the

10m air rifle women's category.

Deepak Kumar and Anjum Moudgil also bagged

a bronze medal each in men's and women's

10m air rifle events respectively. The Meyton

Cup is a private tournament where shooters go

on their own to participate to gain experience before international events.


130

17. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma consolidate top batting positions in ICC ODI rankings India Captain Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit

Sharma consolidated their top two positions in

the batting chart in the One-Day International

Rankings issued by International Cricket

Council. Kohli has 886 points and Rohit has 868

points. Pakistan's Babar Azam is in third

position with 829 points.

Indian pace ace Jasprit Bumrah continued to

lead among bowlers with 764 points. New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult and

Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman are second and third in the ranking.

18. Indonesia Masters 2020 Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting won the

men's Indonesia Masters title over defending

champion Anders Antonsen. Thailand's

Ratchanok Intanon won the women's singles

title against Spain's Carolina Marin.

Indonesia's Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin

Sanjaya Sukamuljo won the men's doubles title

defeating hometown rivals Mohammad Ahsan

and Hendra Setiawan. In women's doubles,

Indonesian pair Greysia Polii and Apriyani

Rahayu beat Denmark's Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen. The 2020 Indonesia

Masters is officially known as the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2020 and took place at the

Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Indonesia.

19. Derrara Hurisa of Ethiopia won full marathon in elite category in Mumbai Derrara Hurisa of Ethiopia broke the event

record and won the full marathon in the elite

category in the 7th edition of the Mumbai

marathon. Ayele Abshero and Birhanu

Teshome came in second and third in the

category. Srinu Bugatha and Sudha Singh

have won the Indian Elite Full Marathon Men's

and Women's category respectively.

Ethiopia's Amane Beriso finished at the top in

the International Elite Full Marathon Women's

category. In the half marathon category, Uttar

Pradesh's Parul Choudhary has emerged victorious while Mumbai's Aarti Patil comes in

second and Nasik's Monica secured the third spot.


131

20. Kiren Rijiju and Pramod Sawant flagged off ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ in Panaji The Fit India Mission under the Ministry of

Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with

the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs,

Government of Goa, organized the inaugural

event of ‘Fit India Cyclothon’ event in

Panaji. The Cyclothon was flagged off by

Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports

Kiren Rijiju and Goa Chief Minister Pramod

Sawant.

The Cyclothon event witnessed participation by over 500 cycling enthusiasts cycled

through a five-kilometre stretch within the Panaji city.

21. Kuldeep Yadav becomes fastest Indian spinner to take 100 wickets in ODIs Kuldeep Yadav became the fastest Indian spinner to claim 100 wickets in ODI during the

second match against Australia in Rajkot. The

left-arm wrist-spinner reached the milestone

in his 58th match when he got rid of Alex

Carey. Among spinners, the earlier fastest to

100 wickets was Harbhajan Singh in 76

matches.

Kuldeep is now also the third-fastest Indian

bowler to take 100 ODI wickets behind

current teammates Mohammed Shami, who

reached the milestone in 56 matches, and

Jasprit Bumrah in 57 matches.

22. Rajshahi Royals won Bangladesh Premier League Trophy The Rajshahi Royals defeated Khulna Tigers in

the finals of the Bangabandhu Bangladesh

Premier League (BBPL) Twenty20 trophy in

Dhaka. West Indian cricket player and

Rajshahi Royal skipper Andre Russel was

named the player of the match for his

performance in the finals. He was also

declared the player of the tournament for his

225 runs and 14 wickets over the course of

the tournament.

Rilee Rossouw scored the most runs in the

tournament - 495 in 14 innings. Mustafizur Rahman was the most successful bowler with

20 wickets in the tournament.


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23. Yogeshwar Dutt & Deepa Malik included in All India Council of Sports Paralympian Deepa Malik and wrestler

Yogeshwar Dutt were inducted in the All India

Council of Sports along with shooter Anjali

Bhagwat, footballer Renedy Singh,

mountaineer Bachendri Pal and former Indian

off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. AICS is

reconstituted government panel on sports.

The Minister of State (Independent Charge)

for Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Sarbananda

Sonowal constituted All India Council of Sports (AICS) in 2015. The Council is an

advisory body for the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

24. India beat Pakistan to lift Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship The team of the Indian Consulate in Dubai

defeated the team of the Pakistan Consulate

to lift the Diplomat Cup Cricket Championship

of 2020. This is the third time in succession

that India has won the Diplomat Cup

Championship.

The Championship was organised by Skyline

University College in Sharjah. Consulates of

eight countries participated in the

tournament. The participating Consulates were – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia and the USA. The aim of the Diplomat Cup

Cricket Championship is to bring together officials and employees of different Consulates

based in UAE.

25. India's Esow Alben bagged gold in Six Day Berlin Tournament India's Esow Alben has bagged a gold in the

men's Keirin individual event of the Six Day

Berlin Cycling Tournament. Czech Republic's

Tomas Babek came in second while Maximilian

Lev of Germany won the bronze.

The event is a six-day track cycling race. Each

cyclist competes on every day of the

competition. Esow was honoured with the

Young Athlete of the Year Award at the

Sportstar Aces Awards 2020 in Mumbai.


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26. Mizoram won North East Dr T Ao Trophy Two times champion Mizoram defeated

Sikkim to emerge as the champion of the

Northeast Dr. T Ao Football Trophy 2020

at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima. While

the champion team received a cash prize

of 10 lakh rupees, the runners up got six 6

lakhs. Rhitsho Mero received the golden

boot for his 10 goals.

Nagaland defeated Arunachal Pradesh

claim the third position. Nagaland received

two lakh rupees and Arunachal Pradesh one Lakh rupees with a certificate.

27. ATF unanimously nominates Anil Khanna as life President Senior Sports Administrator Anil Khanna was

nominated Life President of the Asian Tennis

Federation (ATF). Mr Khanna had served as

ATF President from 2005 to 2019 and also ITF

Vice President from 2015-19.

The ATF also appointed Mr. Khanna as the

Chairman of the ATF Finance Committee. CS

Sunder Raj was voted as the Senior Vice

President of the federation, representing South

Asia. Anil Dhupar was elected as the member

of the Senior Committee, while VK Batra was voted as a member of the Constitution

Committee of the ATF.

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